Ricerc@Sapienza

Background: The preservation of the uterus has an important role in the pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery. Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the long-term anatomical and functional outcomes of abdominal hysterosacropexy. Methods: Prospective study. A series of women who underwent open abdominal hysterosacropexy for high-stage POP with a minimum 75-month follow-up were included. Results: Data on 51 patients were included. Median follow-up was 136.7 months (range 75.8-258 months). Apical prolapse cure rate was 100%.

There is emerging evidence that early uterine development in humans is an important determinant of conditions such as ontogenetic progesterone resistance, menstrual preconditioning, defective deep placentation and pre-eclampsia in young adolescents. A keyobservation is the relative infrequency of neonatal uterine bleeding and hormone withdrawal at birth. The origin of the uterus from the fusion of the two paramesonephric, or Mu¨llerian, ducts was described almost 200 years ago. The uterus forms around the 10th week of foetal life.

?-Lipoic acid (ALA) is a safe natural molecule involved in the immunomodulation of many physiological processes. Orally administered ALA has been reported to treat several inflammatory pathologies and support pregnancy. Our study aimed at testing ALA vaginal administration in female Wistar rats evaluating its tissue distribution (experiment I), impact on implantation process (experiment II), and effectiveness in contrasting induced preterm birth (experiment III). In experiment I, rats were intravaginally treated with 50 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg ALA, or with a physiologic solution, for 4 days.