• Live Hysteroscopic Myomectomy Procedure to be Televised into 56th Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

    SANTA MONICA (May 5, 2008) – California Fertility Partners announced today that Dr. Charles March will perform a hysteroscopic myomectomy telesurgery at the Surgery Center of Santa Monica, on Tuesday, May 6, 2008, that will be simultaneously televised into the 56th annual clinical meeting of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) in New Orleans, Louisiana. This will be a live interactive session where attendees will be able to ask Dr. March questions throughout the procedure.

    “I am honored to perform this live surgery. I see hundreds of women each year who are struggling with infertility or other uterine issues and turn to me for answers,” said Dr. Charles March, California Fertility Partners. “I am still struggling to improve outcomes, but with improved training of surgeons, and continually improving surgical techniques, I hope to make headway in this area.”

    The need for hysteroscopic myomectomies, a procedure in which uterine fibroids are surgically removed from the uterus, is on the rise. In fact, African American women are roughly three times more likely than white women to be found to have fibroids. This increase is happening for two reasons:

    • More women are desiring to become pregnant later in life when there is an increased chance of fibroids occurring (fibroids typically occur in the late 30s or 40s for women).
    • Women who develop fibroids are now turning to this surgery to save them from having to have a hysterectomy to remove their uterus.

    Uterine fibroids are the most common, benign tumors in women of childbearing age, but no one knows exactly what causes them. They can be frustrating to live with when they cause symptoms. Not all women with fibroids have symptoms, but some have pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Fibroids also can put pressure on the bladder, causing frequent urination. Fibroids change the wall of the uterus and can sometimes cause infertility or repeat miscarriages which is why women turn to surgical procedures such as myomectomies.

    The benefit of a myomectomy is that it allows the uterus to be left in place and, for some women, makes pregnancy more likely than before. Myomectomy is the preferred fibroid treatment for women who want to become pregnant. There are many different types of methods that can be used to remove fibroids in the uterus and the method chosen is based on the size, location, and number of fibroids. Hysteroscopy can be used to remove fibroids on the inner wall of the uterus that have not grown deep into the uterine wall.

    Education in the medical community regarding this procedure is important. Because the number of hysteroscopic myomectomies is going up it is important to use techniques and equipment which minimize injury to the surrounding uterine lining. Such damage can lead to scar formation (commonly called Asherman’s Syndrome) which can be especially difficult to treat when it develops after myomectomy surgery.

    Dr. Charles March has performed more than 8,000 hysteroscopic surgeries in the past 35 years. He is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and fellowship trained in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. In 2001 he was honored as a “Pioneer in Hysteroscopy” by the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists.
  • We are very pleased to introduce our new Director of Nursing and Third Party Reproduction: Rachel Rogoff.

    Rachel has over eleven years experience working in the field of infertility and is well respected in the reproductive community for her expertise in the area of third party reproduction. She is a tremendous asset to our program and I know you will enjoy working with her.
  • Dr. Charles March has recently given the following lectures:
    • “Uterine Artery Embolization, Myths and Misconceptions”
    • “Empiric Treatment of Endometriosis and Add-back Therapy”
    • Pomona Valley Hospital

    • “Chronic Pelvic Pain”
    • Queen of the Valley Hospital

    • “Reproductive Surgery, a Dying Art”
    • “Hysteroscopic Management of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding”
    • Ninth Annual Northwest Washington OB-GYN Conference

  • Dr. March has recently published the following articles:
    • “Pelvic and Intrauterine Adhesions”
    • Conceive Magazine

    • “Management of Intrauterine Adhesions”
    • Ob Gyn News

  • Dr. March will present a paper entitled: “Intrauterine Adhesions:  Effect of Different Etiologies upon Surgical Outcome” at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Washington, D.C. in October, 2007
  • Dr. March will be a visiting Professor at the Hippokration Medical Center in Cyprus, October 2007
  • Dr. March will present a lecture entitled: “Factors which Affect Negatively the Outcome of Hysteroscopic Therapy for Intrauterine Adhesions” and teach a course on “Hysteroscopy, Endometrial Ablation and Hysteroscopic Tubal Occlusion” at the Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Therapy in Gynecology in Washington, D.C., November 20007
  • Dr. March will present “The Past and Future of Gynecologic Endoscopy” the Ventura County Medical Center in November 2007
  • Dr. Bronte Stone’s research on the rate of hCG increase after embryo transfer was published last December in Fertility and Sterility.
  • Dr. Stone will present his research on the “Inter-follicular Paracrine Influences on Daily Proportionate Rises in Serum Estradiol during Controlled Ovarian Stimulation” at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Washington, D.C. in October, 2007
  • Dr. Guy Ringler was interviewed on CNN’s “Now” with Paula Zahn to discuss the link between stress, secrecy and reproductive difficulties.  He presented ways to help alleviate the emotional stress of infertility and raised the American Fertility Association’s new educational initiative “Let’s Talk about Sex” (www.theafa.org).
  • Dr. Ringler gave a talk on Egg Donation at the 15 th Annual Fall Fertility and Adoption Symposium, presented by the Southwest Region of RESOLVE (www.resolve.org).
  • Dr. Ringler taught a course entitled: “Donor Insemination/Fertility 101” at the “Parenting with Pride LGBT Family Conference and Resource Fair” for Gay and Lesbian Center of Hollywood.
  • Dr. Ringler wrote an article entitled:  “Gay Man, Gay Dad.  Gay Men Can Become Fathers” for the American Fertility Association’s Annual Resource Directory.
  • Dr. Ringler co-hosted Illuminations 2007 ­ the annual west coast fundraiser for the American Fertility Association.  This year’s event was held in a private estate in Holmby Hills and helped support the educational efforts of the AFA.
  • Dr. Ringler was recently named Chair of the Fundraising committee of the American Fertility Association.
  • Dr. Richard Marrs received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Schreiner University, one of the undergraduate universities at which he studied.
  • Dr. Marrs gave a talk entitled: “Highly Purified Human-derived FSH and Highly Purified hMG: is LH Beneficial” at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, in New Orleans.
  • Dr. Marrs presented a lecture on the “Influence of LH Effect on Stimulation Response and Embryo Quality in IVF” at the New York Society of Reproductive Medicine in New York City.
  • Dr. Marrs continues to participate in the Ferring Pharmaceuticals “Experts in Reproductive Medicine” conferences, and is a member of a board of nationally recognized experts reviewing the safety of gonadotropin therapies.
  • Both Drs. Ringler and March have participated in the America Fertility Association’s Online Educational Sessions by hosting discussions on topics in reproductive medicine.  Please visit the American Fertility Association’s website (www.theafa.org) to join the discussion groups.