Abstract
Purpose
The objectives of our study included comparing reproductive histories and causes of infertility between patients with and without a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) investigation, and summarizing the prevalence and extent of tubal abnormalities among patients who underwent HSG. Outcomes following assisted reproductive technology (ART) were compared between HSG and non-HSG groups.
Materials and methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted to review the medical records of 200 Saudi women with subfertility. In addition to information on HSG, patient data extracted included age, body mass index (BMI), infertility duration, miscarriage experience, parity, cause of infertility, and history of previous surgery, ectopic pregnancy, endometriosis, tubal surgery, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), pregnancy, and live birth.
Results
One hundred and ninety six (98.0%) patients had either IVF (n=18; 9.0%) or ICSI (n=178; 89.0%) performed; ICSI was performed in 157 (90%) and 21 (81%) patients. Of the 12 women with tubal factor who did not undergo HSG, 3 (25.0%) became pregnant after ART, 8 (66.7%) did not, and the status of 1 (8.3%) is yet unknown.
Conclusions
Our study aimed to contribute to resolving the debate regarding the continuing role of HSG in an environment where ART has become established as a successful approach to treat infertility. Most of the HSGs were done as per the attending physician’s discretion, and not according to any specific policy.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr Mohammad Al Tannir, for his guidance from the research center, and Dr Valerie Zimmerman for her assistance in proof reading the article. Dania Al-Jaroudi, Abeer Abdullah Aldughayyim, Wadha Suliman Alshamry, Ahlam Saud Alrashidi, and Ahmad A Bahnasy declared that King Fahad Medical City paid the manuscript fees and funded the study.
The research project has been approved as suitable by the institutional review board at KFMC approved on July 2016 IRB-log 16–229.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.