In 2005, Helen O’Connell and colleagues published “Anatomy of the Clitoris,” a review article, in The Journal of Urology. The article was one of the first to provide a complete anatomical description of the clitoris, which is the organ involved in female sexual pleasure. In addition, O’Connell and her team relay that researchers have historically misunderstood and misrepresented the anatomy of the clitoris. They point out that even though researchers began accurately describing the anatomy of the clitoris in the 1840s, most anatomy textbooks in 2005 still omitted or inaccurately described the structure. The team argues that those omissions not only hinder surgeons’ ability to perform surgery on the clitoris but also reflect a dominant culture of misvaluing the female body. “Anatomy of the Clitoris” helps correct historical misconceptions about clitoral anatomy and promotes accurate representation of female anatomy in educational textbooks and academic settings.

In 1998, urologists Marc Goldstein, Philip Shihua Li, and Gerald J. Matthews published “Microsurgical Vasovasostomy: The Microdot Technique of Precision Suture Placement,” hereafter “The Microdot Technique,” in The Journal of Urology. The authors describe a novel technique for reversing a vasectomy, which blocks a patient’s flow of sperm, preventing the patient from fertilizing a partner’s egg. The technique relies on the placement of microscopic dots to guide the placement of the stitches that reconnect the vasa deferentia, which is a part of the male reproductive system. The authors, working from the Center for Male Reproduction and Microsurgery at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, New York, published the article to instruct surgeons on how to properly employ the surgical technique and provide data to indicate the technique’s effectiveness. Through the publication of “The Microdot Technique,” Goldstein, Li, and Matthews provide guidelines to conduct a more successful and accurate method of a vasovasostomy.

In May 2017, Alice Lee, Fiona E. Gibbon, and Kimberley Spivey published “Children’s Attitudes Toward Peers With Unintelligible Speech Associated With Cleft Lip and/or Palate,” hereafter “Children’s Attitudes,” in The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal. About one in every 1600 babies in the US is born with both cleft lip and cleft palate, which are birth defects that can also occur independently. Those birth defects occur when the lip or roof of the mouth, also called the palate, do not fully develop during pregnancy. The condition often results in speech difficulties, even after children undergo surgery to repair their cleft palate. “Children’s Attitudes” was one of the first articles investigating how different age groups of children judged their peers with speech difficulties who had undergone a cleft palate repair surgery. The authors found that peers’ attitudes towards speech problems tended to be negative. “Children’s Attitudes” concludes that judgment from peers can negatively affect children with speech difficulties and argues that increased public awareness of speech difficulties may reduce barriers that children with those difficulties face.

In 2012, Stephen Sidney, T. Craig Cheetham, Frederick A. Connell, and colleagues published “Recent Combined Hormonal Contraceptives (CHCs) and the Risk of Thromboembolism and Other Cardiovascular Events in New Users,” hereafter “Combined Hormonal Contraceptives” in Contraception. The authors gathered records of major cardiovascular events in patients who were using combined hormonal contraceptive treatments, or CHCs. A CHC is a birth control medication that contains both estrogen and progestin hormones. The CHCs of focus, which the authors referred to as the study CHCs, included a pill, patch, and vaginal ring that the US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, recently approved at the time of publication. The researchers compared the rates of cardiovascular events between users of the study CHCs to users of established CHCs to find any increased cardiovascular risk. “Combined Hormonal Contraceptives” showed that the study CHCs did come with some increased cardiovascular risk, and reconfirmed the known cardiovascular risks of CHCs in general, providing safety information for people who may want to start birth control.

On 1 February 1998, David T. Helm, Sara Miranda, and Naomi Angoff Chedd published “Prenatal Diagnosis of Down Syndrome: Mothers’ Reflections on Supports Needed From Diagnosis to Birth,” hereafter “Mothers’ Reflections,” in the journal Mental Retardation. In 2007, Mental Retardation changed its name to Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Down syndrome is the result of an extra copy or partial copy of chromosome 21, also known as Trisomy 21. It is characterized by traits such as intellectual disabilities, differing facial features, and a high risk for heart disease. In the study, the authors interviewed ten mothers, all of whom had elected to continue with their pregnancy after a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, about their experiences with health care professionals. The article provides suggestions for health care professionals, such as providing up-to-date materials and unbiased information and avoiding judgmental language, so that when mothers receive a prenatal diagnosis of a developmental disability, they are prepared and supported.

On 1 October 1995, Steven Epstein published “The Construction of Lay Expertise: AIDS Activism and the Forging of Credibility in the Reform of Clinical Trials,” hereafter “Lay Expertise,” in the journal Science, Technology, & Human Values. In the article, Epstein shows how particular activists in the 1980s helped reform government-run clinical trials for people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Those activists did that work at a time when AIDS was widespread among communities of gay men, and there were no treatments available to combat the disease. Epstein documents how AIDS activists gained credibility in the eyes of the scientific establishment through specific tactics of engagement. “Lay Expertise” laid a foundation for understanding how AIDS movement activism transformed the field of biomedicine, and paved the way for additional research on illness-related social movements, such as those related to infertility and embryonic stem cell research.

In 1998, researchers Laura Mazzanti and Emanuele Cacciari published “Congenital Heart Disease in Patients with Turner’s Syndrome,” hereafter “Congenital Heart Disease,” in The Journal of Pediatrics. Turner syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by a missing X chromosome and affects one in 1,500 to 2,500 female births. Turner syndrome can result in various developmental issues, such as stunted physical and sexual growth, infertility, and congenital heart disease, or developmental malformations of the heart. At the time of publication, other researchers had established a link between congenital heart defects and Turner syndrome. However, there was little research on the relationship between what specific chromosomal pattern a person had and the types of congenital heart defects that a person presented with. “Congenital Heart Disease” established links between certain types of chromosomal patterns with various congenital heart defects, which the authors argue should allow for improved medical intervention and a better quality of life for people with Turner syndrome.

In 2001, David Kimberlin and colleagues published “Natural History of Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infections in Acyclovir Era,” hereafter, “Natural History of Herpes,” in the journal Pediatrics. In the article, the researchers explore the natural history of herpes, which entails asking how herpes simplex virus, or HSV, progresses in infants when treated with acyclovir, one of the first antiviral medications that effectively treated HSV in adults. HSV can cause painful lesions on the mouth or genitals. When infants contract HSV, it can cause life-threatening illness, including skin lesions, blindness, developmental delays, and often death. At the time of publication, researchers and physicians had evidence that acyclovir could effectively treat neonatal HSV, but physicians still struggled to address the condition quickly enough to improve treatment outcomes. “Natural History of Herpes” presents an updated picture, as of 2001, of how HSV progresses to provide physicians with quicker ways to identify the condition in neonates, who frequently contract the disease from their mothers in utero or during labor and delivery.

Jane Eliot Sewell presented “Cesarean Section--A Brief History” in 1993 as a brochure in the National Library of Medicine’s exhibit on the history of cesarean sections, hereafter c-sections, in Bethesda, Maryland. A c-section is a surgical procedure that doctors use to deliver a fetus through an incision in a pregnant person’s abdomen. The National Library of Medicine’s exhibit included a collection of artwork and photographs that coincide with the historical account of the procedure, and the brochure presents that information in print form. Sewell describes the chronological advancements and evolution of the c-section as well as other medical technological improvements that helped increase surgical survival rates. The brochure and accompanying exhibit provide background and history of the procedure available to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, for whom it was published, and the general public. “Cesarean Section—A Brief History” provides a cohesive explanation of the chronological history and advancements of c-sections, a procedure that millions of people undergo to give birth each year.

In 1938, physician Henry Hubert Turner published “A Syndrome of Infantilism, Congenital Webbed Neck, and Cubitus Valgus,” hereafter “A Syndrome of Infantilism,” in the journal Endocrinology, in which he described a condition that researchers later named Turner syndrome. Turner syndrome is a genetic condition that affects biological females, characterized by a partially or completely missing X chromosome. In the paper, Turner describes a previously unrecognized set of symptoms in seven different females, including a lack of physical and sexual development, infertility, webbed neck, and elbow deformities, among others. Turner also records various methods of hormone treatments for his patients, such as growth hormone and estrogen injections. “A Syndrome of Infantilism” was one of the first published descriptions of Turner syndrome, a developmental condition that affects one in 2,500 live female births globally, and highlighted the use of hormone treatments to promote the development of stunted physical and sexual growth.