Radiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Therapeutic effect of hysterosalpingography: oil- versus water-soluble contrast media--a randomized prospective study.
In a prospective randomized study, the number of pregnancies after hysterosalpingography (HSG) was estimated in 398 patients who had been infertile for longer than 1 year. Iohexol was used in 101 patients, ioxaglate in 102 patients, diatrizoate meglumine in 97 patients, and ethiodized poppy-seed oil in 98 patients. Ten months after HSG, the patient, referring physician, and/or hospital department was consulted for information about pregnancies. ⋯ Significantly more patients became pregnant after HSG in the ethiodized poppy-seed oil group than in the three water-soluble contrast media groups (P less than .01). When only intrauterine pregnancies resulting in full-term births were considered, significant differences in pregnancy rates between the oil-soluble and the water-soluble contrast media groups became more obvious. In the group that received ethiodized poppy-seed oil, almost one-third of the infertile women had normal pregnancies and childbirths after HSG.
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The endothelium is not a passive blood-compatible lining for the containment of blood cells and plasma, but rather it is a metabolically active tissue that subserves a wide range of functions relating to vascular homeostasis. This article reviews the current understanding of endothelial cell biology in terms of the molecules and biochemical pathways involved. These regulate coagulant and thrombotic properties of the vessel wall, vascular tone, and hence blood flow and pressure; changes in solute permeability and leukocyte traffic during the generation of inflammatory and immune responses; and finally the processes of vessel growth and angiogenesis. The review concludes with a consideration of how these functional properties can be disturbed, and their possible consequences, in response to irradiation, intravascular contrast media, or angioplasty.