Foreword
Udo B Hoyme is Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the HELIOS Klinikum Erfurt GmbH. His main topics of interest within obstetrics and gynaecology include nosocomial infections, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, salpingitis, prevention of prematurity, human papillomavirus, oncology and breast surgery. He has been a member of the European Society for Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology since 1989, and an editorial board member for the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reproductive Biology and Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
D
ear colleagues, this issue of European Obstetrics & Gynaecology covers a kaleidoscope of fascinating practical aspects of our speciality. Thanks to the contributors, a broad spectrum of experience and science is included.
Infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacterial disease, as well as the major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and its complications. Our group appreciates the privilege of sharing our long-term diagnostic results based on laparoscopy, with the conclusion that any chlamydial screening procedure aimed at the prevention of PID has to fail for inevitable reasons.
Hypertensive pregnancy disorders express a manifold risk profile, e.g. as maternal factors for early prematurity. Stratification and prediction of their severity are the key in adjusted clinical evaluation and management. This difficult task is approached by two contributions based on the physiological and medical aspects of the disease. The psychological impact of maternal perinatal depression is addressed by the third article in this section. The topic is rather complicated and complex and leads us sometimes to or even beyond the threshold of our speciality, despite all our individual dedication and self-image as physicians. A fourth, totally different, challenge is uterine rupture during vaginal birth after previous caesarean section, since it is difficult to diagnose and difficult to cope with.
How do we inform younger women in regard to menopause prior to hysterectomy? To what extent can we estimate or predict the risk of premature ovarian failure? What is the practical role, what are the diagnostic parameters of hysteroscopic diagnosis of tumours? Can we improve the poor prognosis in relapsed ovarian carcinoma by a novel vascular targeting agent in combination with doxorubicin? These three topics are presented with more or less answered questions and also show current advances.
In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine that protects against human papillomavirus (HPV). How do we nowadays counsel those who are vaccinated in order to provide maximum protection for them? How do we care for those women who are at risk of HPV? This goes along with the fact that more and more women are asked to and like to care for themselves by self-testing, a procedure which has also seen success for vaginal pH in pregnancy in order to prevent prematurity. The future of medicine will be characterised by the increasing importance of primary/secondary prevention, screening and early diagnosis, and on the other hand by minimally invasive surgery, as demonstrated in the last article.
Read, enjoy, learn from the experts in their respective fields. Get in contact and discussion with them, if you wish to do so. We would all like to thank the authors and reviewers who invested their effort in this issue of European Obstetrics & Gynaecology and we thank the media partners and editorial board for their support, suggestions and time. n
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© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2012
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