These findings provide evidence for a functional dichotomy in patients with chronic HBV and HCV infections, featuring conserved or enhanced cytolytic activity and dysfunctional cytokine production, which may contribute to virus persistence.

Childbirth is a risk condition for PTSD, depression during pregnancy influences the intrusion subscale, while having physical problems influences the arousal subscale. Expectations and support are modulated by the anxiety levels and they are not directly related to chronic PTSD.

This systematic review of the literature reports on the use and effectiveness of sperm banking programmes for cancer patients. Thirty studies with 11798 patients were included. The aggregated rate of use of cryopreserved semen was 8% (95% CI 8 to 9%). A statistically significant correlation emerged between the mean and median duration of follow-up and the rate of use (R(2) = 0.46; P = 0.03). The rate of patients discarding their frozen sample was reported in 11 studies. The aggregated rate was 16% (95% CI 15 to 17%). The rate of patients who used their frozen semen and achieved parenthood was reported in 19 papers. The aggregated rate was 49% (95% CI 44 to 53%). The rate of patients achieving parenthood with the use of frozen sperm is low and, from an economical perspective, the effectiveness of programmes of sperm banking might therefore be questioned. On the other hand, the low rate of patients discarding their frozen samples and the correlation between rate of use and duration of follow-up suggest that the calculated 8% rate of use may be an under-estimation and that cumulative rate of use may be substantially higher. Specific studies are, however, required to clarify this issue.

The increasing confidence with the techniques of oocyte and ovarian cortex freezing has prompted their potential use for patient categories other than those at risk of early menopause due to cancer treatments. Women affected by every iatrogenic or pathologic condition known to compromise ovarian function severely have been considered as potential candidates for fertility preservation. Among them, women with endometriosis may represent a particularly suitable group since they are at increased risk of premature ovarian exhaustion and about half of them will experience infertility. Based on the currently available notions on the intricate relationships between endometriosis, infertility and damage to the ovarian reserve, we speculate that fertility preservation may be of interest for women with endometriosis, in particular for those with bilateral unoperated endometriomas and for those who previously had excision of unilateral endometriomas and require surgery for a contralateral recurrence. Young age at diagnosis may be an independent but pivotal additional factor to be taken into consideration in the balance of the pros and cons of fertility preservation. On the other hand, we argue against the introduction of fertility preservation for endometriosis in routine clinical practice. To date, only few cases have been reported and there are insufficient data for robust cost-utility analyses. It is noteworthy that endometriosis is a relatively common disease and systematically including affected women in a fertility preservation program would have profound clinical, logistic and financial effects. More clinical data and in-depth economic analysis are imperative prior to recommending its routine use.

A diagnosis of unexplained infertility is commonly made when clinical investigations fail to identify any obvious barriers to conception. As a consequence, unexplained infertility includes several heterogeneous conditions, one being women with age-related infertility. However, the latter represent a peculiar and different situation. Women with age-related infertility may have a different prognosis and may benefit from different treatments. Unfortunately, since fecundity declines with age, discerning between unexplained infertility and age-related infertility becomes more and more difficult as the woman's age increases. In this opinion, with the use of a mathematical model we show that the rate of false positive diagnoses of unexplained infertility increases rapidly after 35 years of age. Using a threshold of 2 years of unfruitful, regular unprotected intercourse, this rate exceeds 50% in women starting pregnancy seeking after 37 years. The scenario is much worse using a threshold of 1 year. From a clinical perspective, extrapolating results obtained in a population of young women with unexplained infertility to those with age-related infertility is not justified. It is noteworthy that, if Assisted Reproductive Technologies are unable to overcome age-related infertility, the older women erroneously labeled with unexplained infertility may receive inappropriate therapies. These may expose women to unjustified risks and waste financial resources. Unfortunately, the available literature about older women is scanty and does not provide valid evidence. Randomized controlled trials aimed at identifying the most suitable clinical management of older women with a normal infertility work-up are pressingly needed.