Gynecology

Pelvic pain is one of the most common and significant clinical symptoms of endometriosis. The complex pathogenesis and paradoxical nature of endometriosis-associated pain, its chronicity and centralization, a marked decrease in the quality of life of patients, the lack of an "ideal" and effective remedy with no limitation for all patients, as well as the progressive and recurrent nature of the disease are factors that determine the need for novel, additional therapeutic options. The pain mechanisms in endometriosis and the potential pathogenetic effects of trans-resveratrol and indole-3-carbinol on various aspects of endometriosis-associated pain are addressed based on the literature sources presented in electronic databases PubMed, CyberLeninka, and Google Scholar. The described pharmacological properties of the compounds suggest that the combined use of trans-resveratrol and indole-3-carbinol is a pathogenetically justified and promising treatment for complex endometriosis-associated pain.

Estetrol (E4) is a steroid hormone found in the urine of pregnant women in 1965. E4 is produced only during pregnancy and enters the maternal bloodstream through the placenta. Its concentration in maternal human plasma increases during pregnancy, reaching a maximum by the end of pregnancy (≥1 ng/mL). The pharmacological properties of E4 make it a promising agent for hormonal therapy and contraception. To date, phase II and III studies have shown promising results with the combination of 15 mg of E4 and 3 mg of drospirenone: this combined oral contraceptive has shown a good effect with a neutral metabolic effect. However, evidence is scarce about the effect of the new combination on the breast and bone tissue. Further studies are needed to consolidate the available data and to investigate possible side effects of prolonged use of E4-containing combined oral contraceptives compared to known ethinylestradiol and estradiol-containing combinations.

Physiological changes during pregnancy often disrupt women's sleep. If these changes are combined with other factors (obesity, iron or magnesium deficiency, anxiety, etc.), the pregnant woman may develop sleep disorders: obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, restless legs syndrome, leg cramps, and insomnia. These disorders increase the risk of pregnancy complications, reduce the quality of a woman's life, and form the basis for somatic and mental disorders in the postpartum period. Therefore, the obstetrician has to be familiar with the phenomenology, diagnosis, and treatment of sleep disorders in pregnant women to treat them promptly or to refer a woman to a neurologist or psychiatrist. This review briefly describes the common sleep disorders occurring in pregnant women, especially the various types of insomnia. The main groups of sedative agents are characterized, of which only doxylamine is acceptable for use in routine practice because of its proven efficacy and safety during pregnancy.

Aim. To evaluate the expression of steroid receptors (estrogen [ER] and progesterone [PR]) in the endometrium during the implantation window in females with a history of fertility disorders in "thin" and "absolutely thin" endometrium versus healthy females.

Materials and methods. A prospective comparative study was conducted. The study group (n=42) included patients with "thin" endometrium (7 mm > M-echo ≥5 mm at cycle days 11–13 according to ultrasound); the comparison group (n=10) included females with "absolutely thin" (<5 mm according to ultrasound in the pre-ovulatory days) endometrium (females in both groups had a history of infertility and miscarriage of unclear reasons in the anamnesis); the control group included 16 healthy fertile females. A Pipelle biopsy of the uterine mucosa was performed on day 6–8 after ovulation, and a peripheral blood sample was obtained to measure the concentration of sex steroids (estradiol [E₂] and progesterone [P]). Endometrial samples were examined by histological and immunohistochemical methods (ER, PR expression).

Results. All study participants had an ovulatory cycle of P≥16.1 nmol/L (day 6–8 after ovulation) and normal estrogen levels (E₂, pmol/L). E₂/P was similar in all cohorts (p>0.05 for all measures). ER and PR expression in the endometrium similar to those in healthy females was detected in 20% of patients in the study and comparison groups (M-echo = 4.8–3.1 mm): 21% (9/42) and 20% (2/10), respectively. ER and PR expression in the endometrial glands and ER expression in the endometrial stroma were significantly different (p<0.05) from healthy females in 79% (41/52) of patients with "thin" endometrium and 80% (8/10) of patients with "absolutely thin" endometrium. No differences in the ER or PR expression in the endometrium in females with hypoplastic endometrium were found (p>0.05).

Conclusion. The M-echo value does not accurately determine endometrial hormonal-receptor abnormalities: 20% of the study participants with hypoplastic endometrium had ER and PR expression comparable to those in healthy females. No differences were found in the expression of endometrial estrogen and progesterone receptors in females with "thin" and "absolutely thin" endometrium.

Background. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable malignancies in females. However, there is an increasing trend of disease incidence mainly due to the low specificity of routine screening tests.

Aim. To assess the diagnostic value of standard tests for the diagnosis of cervix disorders based on the Digene test.

Materials and methods. The obtained data were processed using the Statistica software package. Due to the unique features of specimens obtained, non-parametric methods were used for small samples with extreme data variability and possible artifacts. These methods do not require an assumption of "normality" of distribution. Kruskal–Wallis rank analysis of variance and Mann–Whitney test for comparison of individual samples were used to estimate the relationship between the studied parameter and controlled factors. Median (Me) and quartiles (Q1 and Q3) were used in describing the results.

Results. The study found a low performance of colposcopy and cytology and a higher performance of status assessment for human papillomavirus.

Conclusion. Our findings indicate that viral load measurement is only sometimes informative. This test can be used as a stage 2 screening; additional data are needed for further patient management. Digene test helps to determine the risk group for a follow-up study.

Background. The first day-care hospital (DCH) in the Russian Federation with 30 beds was established in the departments of general surgery, urology, and gynecology of the Botkin Hospital in 2016 in Moscow.

Aim. To analyze the six-year experience of the gynecological DCH based on the Botkin Hospital.

Materials and methods. The six-year experience (2016–2021) of the gynecological DCH based on the Botkin Hospital was analyzed.

Results. The number of patients treated in the DCH increased progressively from 2016 to 2019. Due to the gain in the experience of DCH, patients with a broader spectrum of diseases can receive care in DCH settings, the number of hospitalized patients with a higher anesthetic risk has increased, and the proportion of patients over 65 years of age has also increased.

Conclusion. Analysis of the activities of the DCH based on the Botkin Hospital showed that the pilot project can be considered successful due to good clinical and economic indicators. This activity format can be widely implemented, and it is optimal to establish such hospitals in multidisciplinary clinics.

Introduction. Obesity, due to its high prevalence and relevance, can be considered an epidemic of modern society. Obesity-related microcirculatory vascular disease and chronic inflammation with endothelial dysfunction are associated with adverse effects on reproductive potential. Sulodexide reduces the risk of hemostatic complications in patients planning pregnancy due to its polypotent effect, which is especially important in metabolic disorders and comorbidities. Therefore, it is promising to assess the effectiveness of integrated management of obese patients as part of pregnancy planning.

Aim. To modify the complex treatment of obesity in patients planning pregnancy to reduce the risk of reproductive losses and gestational complications.

Materials and methods. The prospective analysis included 92 patients with grade 1 obesity. According to the clinical protocols and guidelines of the Reproductive Health Professional Medical Association, 46 patients in the control group (group 1) were prescribed treatment to reduce the body mass index, including lifestyle correction, folic acid, and vitamin D. Patients in the comparison group (Group 2, n=46) also received endotheliotropic agent sulodexide. The treatment efficacy was analyzed based on the frequency of pregnancy, the change of laboratory markers of endothelial dysfunction, the incidence of gestational complications, and reproductive losses.

Results. The study showed that in comparison group patients, the frequency of pregnancy (58.7% of cases in Group 1, 71.7% in Group 1), favorable course of the first trimester (39.1% in Group 1, 63.0% in Group 2), and delivery at term (30.4% in Group 1, 56.5% in Group 2) were higher compared to the control group. There was also a more significant decrease in the body mass index and endothelial dysfunction factors (homocysteine level in group 1 before treatment was 17±2.4 μmol/L, and 14±1.8 μmol/L after treatment; 19±1.7 μmol/L before treatment and 9±1.4 μmol/L after treatment in Group 2, respectively) in patients receiving complex treatment with sulodexide. Analysis of the pregnancy course showed a lower risk of gestational diabetes (33.3% in Group 1 and 13.8% in Group 2).

Conclusion. Treatment of obesity in patients planning pregnancy requires a complex effect aimed at correcting lifestyle, reducing body weight, restoring the endothelial layer, and reducing the severity of chronic inflammation, thus improving reproductive outcomes and minimizing the risk of gestational complications.

Background. Neural networks are actively used in digital pathology to analyze histological images and support medical decision-making. A common approach is to solve the classification problem, where only class labels are the only model responses. However, one should understand which areas of the image have the most significant impact on the model's response. Machine learning interpretation techniques help solve this problem.

Aim. To study the consistency of different methods of neural network interpretation when classifying histological images of the breast and to obtain an expert assessment of the results of the evaluated methods.

Materials and methods. We performed a preliminary analysis and pre-processing of the existing data set used to train pre-selected neural network models. The existing methods of visualizing the areas of attention of trained models on easy-to-understand data were applied, followed by verification of their correct use. The same neural network models were trained on histological data, and the selected interpretation methods were used to systematize histological images, followed by the evaluation of the results consistency and an expert assessment of the results.

Results. In this paper, several methods of interpreting machine learning are studied using two different neural network architectures and a set of histological images of breast abnormalities. Results of ResNet18 and ViT-B-16 models training on a set of histological images on the test sample: accuracy metric 0.89 and 0.89, ROC_AUC metric 0.99 and 0.96, respectively. The results were also evaluated by an expert using the Label Studio tool. For each pair of images, the expert was asked to select the most appropriate answer ("Yes" or "No") to the question: "The highlighted areas generally correspond to the Malignant class." The "Yes" response rate for the ResNet_Malignant category was 0.56; for ViT_Malignant, it was 1.0.

Conclusion. Interpretability experiments were conducted with two different architectures: the ResNet18 convolutional network and the ViT-B-16 attention-enhanced network. The results of the trained models were visualized using the GradCAM and Attention Rollout methods, respectively. First, experiments were conducted on a simple-to-interpret dataset to ensure they were used correctly. The methods are then applied to the set of histological images. In easy-to-understand images (cat images), the convolutional network is more consistent with human perception; on the contrary, in histological images of breast cancer, ViT-B-16 provided results much more similar to the expert's perception.

Cervical inflammatory disease associated with papillomavirus infection is one of the most common inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs and plays a role in developing cervical dysplasia and cancer. Over the past 15 years, Russia has seen an increase in the proportion of neglected cervical cancer cases. Currently, the management and treatment strategy for cervicitis associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical intraepithelial dysplasia ranges from monitoring with HPV testing and cytological control to excision and cervical conization. The immune status determines the course of the papillomavirus infection, which may be transient, latent, or persistent. In most cases (70–80%), HPV is eliminated spontaneously. The detection of HPV DNA with clinical and morphological changes indicates a latent course of the disease. The complex use of clinical data and morphological and molecular biological studies results is most promising in identifying early prognostic markers of cervical malignancy. It is the basis for further search for cervical precancer progression pathogenetic markers.

The article addresses the treatment of uterine fibroids, which is still relevant. According to numerous studies, about 70% of females under 50 have uterine fibroids, the most common condition among perimenopausal women. The prevalence of giant forms is not high and accounts for less than 5% of all cases, especially at early diagnosis. The surgical strategy in such cases is individual and depends on many factors: size, location of nodes, and women's reproduction plans. In these clinical cases, the management of patients with giant uterine fibroids is presented according to the multimodal principles of fast-track surgery in a modern gynecological hospital. We described the main approaches in diagnosis, preoperative preparation, surgery features, and subsequent recovery to reduce the complication rate, the duration of inpatient treatment, and postoperative rehabilitation in the treatment of giant uterine fibroids.