Jindal UN. An algorithmic approach to female genital tuberculosis causing infertility. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2006;10:1045-50.
SETTING:
A private infertility care and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) centre in Northern India.
OBJECTIVES:
To describe the prevalence, clinical spectrum, management strategy and outcome of infertility due to female genital tuberculosis (GTB) diagnosed with the help of a simplified tuberculosis (TB) algorithm.
DESIGN:
Data from 150 women with infertility (Group I) and 47 women with general gynaecological problems (Group II) were analysed.
RESULTS:
GTB was diagnosed in 7.2% of Group I and 2.8% of Group II women. Anti-tuberculosis treatment resulted in resolution of symptoms other than infertility in over 90% of cases. Of the total 20 pregnancies in the group, 10 were obtained in 32 IVF treatment patients.
CONCLUSIONS:
A definitive bacteriological diagnosis was generally difficult to achieve in GTB before administration of anti-tuberculosis treatment. A high index of suspicion and several other morphological and/or laboratory criteria were employed. It is suggested that a step-wise algorithm can help in the management of these cases.