A new study published in Reproductive BioMedicine Online reports improvement in pain symptoms, fertility outcomes, and overall patient satisfaction rates following surgical resection of bowel endometriosis in women with infertility. Continue Reading

Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), which involves the combination of IVF with gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) methods, is not commonly used as it is one of the more invasive ART procedures. A report by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) showed that ZIFT was used in <1% of the total cycles performed (n=140,795) across all the SART member clinics during the year 2008. Now, a recent prospective randomized trial published in Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, has reported increased rates of pregnancy and implantation in patients suffering from nontubal infertility with the use ZIFT compared to uterine embryo transfer (UET). Continue Reading

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign pelvic tumors in women of reproductive age. Although intramural fibroids distorting the uterine cavity are linked to reduced pregnancy rates, there exists controversy regarding this association when the uterine cavity is not altered by the fibroids. Now, a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the journal, Human Reproduction reports that non-cavity-distorting intramural fibroids may also result in adverse pregnancy outcomes in IVF cycles. Continue Reading

Introduction

Endometriosis, a common gynecological condition and a leading cause of infertility, affects around 2-10% of reproductive-aged women in the US, with a global prevalence of 0.5-5% and 25-40% in fertile and infertile women, respectively.1 Although most studies have established the association between endometriosis and infertility, there is a lack of sufficient understanding regarding a direct cause-and-effect link, particularly in early disease, when the pelvic anatomy is not disrupted. Hence, there also remains some ambiguity about the optimal management strategy for endometriosis-associated infertility. Continue Reading