A STUDY ON CO-RELATION OF INFERTILITY AND FEMALE GENITAL TUBERCULOSIS

Introduction: Female Genital Tuberculosis (FGTB) is an important cause of sub fertility. It can cause tubal obstruction and dysfunction, impair implantation due to endometrial involvement and rarely lead to ovulatory failure. Objective: To evaluate the rate of female genital tuberculosis and its presentational symptoms in patients of infertility, to study the genital tuberculosis by hystero-laparoscopy and different methods available for its diagnosis including PCR technique and histo-pathological examination and to study conception rate after ATT( Anti tubercular treatment) in positive cases of PCR. Methodology: This was a prospective observational study conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, SMIMER, Surat, on 54 subjects from May 2007 to December 2009. Patients of reproductive age group from 18 years to 36 years with the duration of infertility of more than 2 years were included. Results: Out of 54 subjects, cases of primary infertility were 44 (81.5%) and secondary infertility were 10 (18.5%). Chronic pelvic pain in 16 patients (29.6%) was the most common associated complaint apart from infertility. On investigation ,cases found positive were 19 by PCR from endometrial biopsy, 22 cases (40.7%) by laparoscopy, 2 cases (3.7%) by histology and 3 cases (5.6%) by hysteroscopy. 19 cases were given ATT, out of those 6 cases (31.6%) had conceived. Conclusion: Infertility is one of the most common symptoms of FGTB and more cases of genital TB would be diagnosed in patient of infertility in endemic areas.