Copper IUD: Enhancement of its efficacy by the addition of silver and nickel
1974; Elsevier BV; Volume: 9; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0010-7824(74)90027-4
ISSN1879-0518
AutoresEsteban Kesserü, Hilario Hurtado, Barbara Mühe,
Tópico(s)Reproductive Health and Contraception
ResumoThe contraceptive action of copper IUDs can be improved by the addition of silver or nickel. A clinical study involving 672 women with 6,982 months of use is presented. The pregnancy rates were 0.0% at 12 months of use in 245 women with devices bearing Cu + Ag and Cu + Ni. With Cu alone, the pregnancy rate was 1.5 % and with the same IUD model without metallic adjuncts, 4.4 %. In a control group of 200 women with Lippes C and D, pregnancies occurred in 2.5 % of the cases. First expulsions and removals for bleeding were approximately twice as high as with Lippes, probably due to the design of the device rather than to the metallic action. There were no significant differences as regards the remaining types of event rates. The feasibility of using Cu + Ag and Cu + Ni pairs in a more adequate model of IUD is being discussed. The almost total absence of living sperm in the intrauterine cavity in the presence of metallic IUDs was demonstrated by means of postcoital sperm recovery tests in 76 patients, whilst sperm migration was not affected in the non-metallic models. This might constitute an additional mechanism to explain the excellent effectiveness of metallic IUDs.
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