Women Who Fail To Become Pregnant Using IVF Often Helped By Being Tested For Endometriosis, Study Says

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 14 Dec 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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Women who do not become pregnant using in vitro fertilization procedures might benefit from being tested for endometriosis -- a condition that has been linked to infertility -- according to a study to be published this month in the journal Fertility and Sterility, the Wall Street Journal reports (Pagan Westphal, Wall Street Journal, 12/13). Endometriosis -- a condition caused when tissue that normally lines the uterus develops in other parts of the body -- is diagnosed through laparoscopy, a surgical procedure that allows a scope to be inserted through an incision in the abdomen to see if there are endometriosis lesions or cysts (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/29). The test used to be performed regularly, but it "fell out of favor" because of the procedure's risks, which are comparable to other surgeries, and because there is "no guarantee" that treatment for endometriosis helps women achieve a natural pregnancy, according to the Journal. Camran Nezhat, a surgeon and fertility specialist at Stanford University, studied 29 women who had failed to become pregnant using IVF and later were tested for and diagnosed with endometriosis. Once the study participants had undergone treatment for the condition, 22 of the women became pregnant -- 13 of whom did so without fertility treatments. Some doctors are criticizing the study, saying testing for endometriosis is unnecessary because IVF treatments can bypass complications caused by the condition. However, Nezhat said IVF treatments -- which can include side effects such as mood swings, bloating, painful ovulation and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome -- are used too frequently when women's fertility first could be helped by undergoing treatment for endometriosis, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 12/13).

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