By Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LD, CLEC
In the United States, an average of 10 percent of people of reproductive age have experienced infertility challenges, regardless of gender.1 Infertility is “a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse” according to the World Health Organization.2 In 2018, the ... Continue Reading
By Pavan K. Ananth, M.D., MPH, and Ceana H. Nezhat, M.D.
Endometriosis affects one in eight women and can have devastating effects. It impacts all age groups with varying consequences and is not restricted to the reproductive tract. Severe endometriosis can cause bowel obstruction or perforation, ureteral stricture, renal failure and hemothorax, not to mention debilitating pain. Despite these serious, and sometimes ... Continue Reading
By Kathryn Calhoun, M.D.
Chronic anovulation is a hallmark of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), so the vast majority of women with PCOS will require fertility treatment to conceive. In a young PCOS patient with no obvious barriers to conception (other than anovulation), it is reasonable to start ovulation induction medicines before evaluating her uterus/tubes or her partner's semen analysis. If the ... Continue Reading
By Sarah McClellan, MPH, and Ceana Nezhat, M.D. Historically, pregnancy has been a time of joy and apprehension. During the Renaissance, women would write out their wills as soon as they became pregnant.2 History, in fact, is full of maternal death. Thomas Jefferson lost his wife following childbirth in 1782. Princess Charlotte of Wales, granddaughter of King George III and ... Continue Reading
By Iris Krishna, M.D., MPH One of the more commonly encountered medical complications in pregnancy is diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus in pregnancy is characterized as pregestational or gestational diabetes. Pregestational diabetes is diagnosed prior to pregnancy and affects approximately 1 percent of pregnancies, while gestational diabetes is diagnosed during pregnancy ... Continue Reading
By Laura E Gilbertson, M.D., Milad Sharifpour, M.D., and Grant C Lynde, M.D. More than 75,000 pregnant patients undergo non-obstetric surgery in the United States each year. Fortunately, good preparation and planning can lead to good outcomes for both mother and child. Finding physicians and hospitals with experience in caring for parturients with comorbid conditions is ... Continue Reading
By Jennifer F. Kawwass, MD and Heather S. Hipp, MD
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, the enigmatic syndrome ascribed to infertile, overweight females with irregular menstrual cycles, may be simpler to understand than it seems. The syndrome can be confusing: no clear linear causal pathway has been elucidated, and many endocrine axes interact to accentuate the classical physical manifestations. In addition, it is a broad ... Continue Reading
By Kalinda D. Woods, M.D. Those of us who study science may remember sitting in an introductory general biology lecture hall at some point in our academic past. An esteemed lecturer after formal introduction and orientation to the course may have opened the semester of study by insisting students internalize a single concept to begin to study biology: life persists. The ... Continue Reading
By Helen K. Kelley Atlanta Medicine recently spoke with some Atlanta-area gynecologists to learn about new effective surgical techniques, comparisons of surgeries in terms of costs and advantages, and how conversations about family planning and contraception choices are reducing the number of unintended pregnancies among their patients. New tissue removal techniques for ... Continue Reading
By Tossy Fogle, M.D. The twin birth rate hit a new high in 2014 at 33.9 twins per 1,000 births.1 This has been attributed to an older maternal age at conception, which naturally increases the rate of twinning, and an increased use of assisted reproductive technology. The triplet and higher-order multiple birth rate peaked in 1998 at 193.5 births per 100,000 births. Since ... Continue Reading
By Thomas N. Trevett, M.D., Larry Matsumoto, M.D. and Michael Belfort, MBBCH, M.D., Ph.D. Advances in technology now allow the early diagnosis of fetal abnormalities and conditions that were previously only apparent in late gestation or after birth. High-resolution ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are two specific technologies that enable the ... Continue Reading
By Carla Roberts, M.D., Ph.D. Hysteroscopy is the inspection of the uterine cavity by endoscopy with access through the cervix. It allows for the diagnosis of intrauterine pathology and serves as a method for surgical intervention, also called operative hysteroscopy. Although the first reported uterine endoscopy was in 1869, the modern-day hysteroscopy did not become ... Continue Reading
By Jonathan Kim, M.D. Case #1: A 55-year-old female triathlete self-refers herself to your clinic complaining of exertional dyspnea on exertion. She has been a high-level recreational endurance athlete for the last 25 years, competing in 25 marathons and 8 Ironman triathlons. At baseline, she runs 40 miles per week when not training for competition. She states that for the ... Continue Reading
By David W. Markham, M.D., MSc A 29-year-old woman presents two weeks after delivery of her second child complaining of lower extremity edema and dyspnea on exertion. She had mild dyspnea at the end of her first pregnancy two years ago, but she has had an uneventful second pregnancy. She has no other medical problems. The patient has a faint third heart sound (S3) on cardiac ... Continue Reading
NOTES FROM AN INSIDER By Benedict B. Benigno, M.D. Ovarian cancer is an avaricious tumor, and its domain is nothing less than the entire abdominal cavity. It can extend from the deepest part of the pelvis up to the diaphragm and to the right and left of the colon and everything in between. It can appear after a few weeks of the mildest symptoms, and by then it has already ... Continue Reading
