Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewOil-soluble versus water-soluble media for assessing tubal patency with hysterosalpingography or laparoscopy in subfertile women.
There has been debate in the literature for more than 40 years as to whether flushing of the Fallopian tubes enhances fertility and whether this presumed therapeutic effect is greater with oil-soluble media than with water-soluble media. A meta-analysis of the therapeutic role of oil-soluble contrast media at hysterosalpingography was published in March 1994 (Watson 1994). This Cochrane Review is an expansion and update of that overview. ⋯ Flushing of the tubes with oil-soluble media increases subsequent pregnancy rates in infertility patients. The hypothesis that tubal "plugs" are a cause of proximal tubal occlusion and that oil-soluble media may flush them out, is supported by new techniques such as falloposcopy. Clinicians should consider flushing the tubes with OSCM before contemplating more invasive therapies.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewInhaled beta-agonists for asthma in mechanically ventilated patients.
A small number of patients with acute severe asthma require intubation and positive pressure ventilation. The beneficial effects of inhaled bronchodilators on acute asthma in spontaneously breathing subjects are well established, but there remain important questions regarding inhaled beta2-agonists, for patients who are intubated and receiving ventilation. ⋯ There are no data from randomised controlled trials to provide evidence for or against current practices regarding the use of inhaled beta2-agonists in asthmatic subjects who are intubated and ventilated.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewZidovudine (AZT) versus AZT plus didanosine (ddI) versus AZT plus zalcitabine (ddC) in HIV infected adults.
Zidovudine (AZT) monotherapy was the first antiretroviral drug to be tested widely. The next two drugs to be developed were didanosine (ddI) and zalcitabine (ddC). ⋯ The use of ddI and, to a lesser extent, ddC delayed both HIV disease progression and death, at least when added to AZT.
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To assess the effects of providing pregnant women with high-protein nutritional supplements on gestational weight gain and on the outcome of pregnancy, including fetal growth, gestational duration, and maternal and fetal/infant morbidity and mortality. ⋯ There is not enough evidence to evaluate the use of high protein supplementation in pregnancy.
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It has been suggested that oestrogens may improve fetal growth due to an increase in nutritional supply to the fetus from greater uterine blood flow. ⋯ There is not enough evidence to evaluate the clinical use of hormone administration for suspected impaired fetal growth.