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Purpose: The aim is to report the first live-birth following ICSI using spermatozoa previously vitrified in a Stripper Tip., Principal Results: A 34-year-old cryptozoospermic man was enrolled in a sperm vitrification program. After failure of conventional freezing technique, spermatozoa were vitrified using two carriers: a commercially-available, Cell Sleeper, and a "home-made" one, Stripper Tip. This man and his 30-year-old wife underwent an ICSI attempt using vitrified-warmed spermatozoa from these devices. All frozen-warmed spermatozoa were quickly recovered. Among the oocytes retrieved, six were injected with sperm from the Cell Sleeper, and seven with sperm from the Stripper tip, leading to 4 embryos in each case. Two embryos, arising from sperm frozen in the Stripper tip, were transferred, resulting in a healthy live-birth., Conclusions: This is the first successful delivery following the use of spermatozoa frozen in an original device, the Stripper Tip, giving a promising prospect for managing severe male infertilities., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Living species including humans are continuously exposed to low levels of a myriad of endocrine active compounds that may affect their reproductive function. In contrast, experimental designs scrutinizing this question mostly consider the gestational/lactational period, select high unrealistic doses and, have rarely investigated the possible reproductive consequences in the progeny. The present study aimed at assessing comparatively a set of male reproductive endpoints according to exposure windows, gestational/lactational versus pre-pubertal to adulthood, using low doses of endocrine active substances in male rats as well as their unexposed male progeny. Animals were orally exposed to 1 mg/kg bw/d of genistein and/or vinclozolin, from conception to weaning or from prepuberty to young adulthood. A number of reproductive endpoints were assessed as well as testicular mRNA expression profiles, in the exposed rats and their unexposed progeny. Overall, the low dosage used only affected weakly most of classical reproductive endpoints. However, the gestational/lactational exposure to vinclozolin alone or combined to genistein significantly delayed the puberty onset. Contrasting with the gestational/lactational exposure, a decreased sperm production was found in the animals exposed to genistein and vinclozolin from the pre-pubertal period but also in their progeny for vinclozolin and the mixture. The expression level of several genes involved in meiosis, apoptosis and steroidogenesis was also affected differentially as a function of the exposure window in both exposed rats and unexposed offspring. We also provide further evidence that doses of endocrine active substances relevant with human exposure may affect the male reproductive phenotype and testicular transcriptome in the exposed generation as well as in the indirectly exposed offspring., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Digital ulcers generally arise in a context of microangiopathy-related focal ischemia. In women, connective tissue diseases are the main etiology, while in men the cause is often diffuse arterial disease, e.g. Leo-Buerger disease, or emboligenic heart disease. A paraneoplastic origin of digital necrosis due to ischemia is rarely reported. A 75-year-old man presented with cyanosis of the fingertips and toes that had begun one month earlier. The physical examination found pulp ulcers on the fingers and toes of both hands and feet. Two weeks later, necrotic damage developed distally, with no other associated symptoms. Blood tests were suggestive of Kahler disease; immunodeficiency disorders tests were negative; the cyroglobulin test was positive. Multiple-drug chemotherapy was followed by clinical improvement. Distal necrotic damage is a frequent inaugural symptom in vascular disease. If the common causal mechanisms (iatrogenic, occupational, toxic, atheromatous, emboligenic heart disease, or systemic disease) have been ruled out, it is important to search for a blood disorder or cancer as the cause of distal necrotic damage., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Microcalcifications are a common finding in mammography and usually require invasive procedures to diagnose or exclude malignancy. As many microcalcifications are due to benign lesions, we wanted to assess whether breast MRI as an additional diagnostic tool may be used to distinguish benign from malignant in this setting., Materials and Methods: Eligible for this retrospective, IRB-approved observational study were 858 consecutive patients (mean age 54±11years) undergoing stereotactically-guided biopsies of suspicious mammographic microcalcifications during three year at our institution. Finally included were 152 patients who also underwent breast MRI <8weeks prior to biopsy. In case of malignant or lesions of uncertain malignant potential, subsequent surgery was performed. Benign findings were confirmed by imaging follow-up. BI-RADS category assignments from the original mammography and breast MRI reports were compared to the final diagnosis (benign vs. malignant) to determine diagnostic benchmarks., Results: Histopathology revealed 81 benign (53.3%), 41 DCIS (27%) and 30 (19.7%) invasive cancers. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for breast MRI were 97.2% (69/71), 39.5% (32/81), 58.5% (69/118) and 94.1% (32/34), respectively. Thus, 32/81 unnecessary biopsies in benign lesions (39.5%) may have been avoided, missing 2/71 malignant lesions (2.8%), both DCIS G2., Conclusion: Breast MRI as an additional diagnostic tool can be used to accurately distinguish benign from malignant mammographic microcalcifications and may thus be helpful to reduce unnecessary breast biopsies., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)