Cochrane Db Syst Rev
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewCaregivers' use of strict criteria for diagnosing active labour in term pregnancy.
Application of specific criteria for diagnosis of active labour as part of a labour assessment program aims to differentiate more accurately between latent and active phases of labour. ⋯ Early labour assessment (which includes use of specific criteria for diagnosis of active labour) may have some positive outcomes for women at term pregnancy.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewGonadotropin releasing hormone agonist protocols for pituitary desensitization in in vitro fertilization and gamete intrafallopian transfer cycles.
Gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) are used in assisted reproduction cycles to reversibly block pituitary function and prevent a luteinizing hormone surge. In the short and ultrashort protocols of GnRHa administration, injection of gonadotropins is commenced a few days after the start of GnRHa. In the long protocols (with GnRHa started either in the midluteal phase or in the early follicular phase) gonadotropin administration is delayed until pituitary desensitization has been achieved, usually 2-3 weeks. ⋯ On the basis of clinical pregnancy rate per cycle started, this meta-analysis demonstrates the superiority of the long protocol over the short and ultrashort protocols for GnRHa use in IVF and GIFT cycles.
-
Patients with isolated supratentorial brain tumours, presumed to be primary on imaging, have two surgical management options - biopsy or resection. Surgical opinions appear to be equally divided when considering the relative risks and benefits of these two procedures. ⋯ Given that no qualifying studies were identified and because this is an important issue, both in terms of patient risk and benefit and health economics, the author feels it important to conduct a randomised controlled trial in this subject.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewMaternal antigen avoidance during lactation for preventing atopic eczema in infants.
To assess the effects of prescribing an antigen avoidance diet to lactating mothers of infants with atopic eczema on the severity of the eczema. ⋯ The unimpressive results of this single trial should be interpreted with caution both because of its small size (n=17) and because the trial compared exposure to cow milk and egg with exposure to soya milk (soya can itself be allergenic). Maternal reports of changes in the severity of their breast-fed infants' eczema following ingestion of certain foods should be pursued by performing multiple (preferably double-blinded) challenges and dechallenges with the suspected foods.
-
To assess the effects of advising pregnant women to increase their energy and protein intakes on those intakes, on gestational weight gain, and on the outcome of pregnancy. ⋯ Nutritional advice appears effective in increasing pregnant women's energy and protein intakes, but the implications for fetal, infant, or maternal health cannot be judged from the available trials. Given the rather modest health benefits demonstrated with actual protein/energy supplementation (see the Cochrane review of 'Balanced protein/energy supplementation in pregnancy'), however, the provision of such advice is unlikely to be of major importance.