Detection of the Uterine Abnormalities Missed in an Ultrasound Scan and/or Hysterosalpingography Using Hysteroscopy, in Females Presenting With Unexplained Infertility

Hysteroscopic Evaluation of Uterine Cavity in Women With Unexplained Infertility

Hysteroscopy is still considered the gold standard procedure for uterine cavity exploration. Therefore, many specialists have used hysteroscopy as their first-line of routine exam for infertility patients regardless of guidelines. Thus, scheduling the office micro hysteroscopy as one of the routine steps in the fertility workup program has become mandatory before the final diagnosis of unexplained infertility.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Infertility, Female
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: office micro hysteroscopy

Detailed Description

Although hysteroscopy is generally accepted as the gold standard in diagnosis and treatment of uterine cavity pathology, many gynecologist are reluctant to perform hysteroscopy as an initial test without a high degree of suspicion for pathology due to the need for anesthesia in an operating room setting. The basic infertility work-up has included a HSG to evaluate the uterine cavity and tubal patency. However, HSG does not allow for simultaneous correction of uterine pathology. Moreover HSG may miss 35% of uterine abnormalities. Hysterolaparoscopy (Pan Endoscopic) approach is better than HSG and should be encouraged as first and final procedure in selected infertile women.

Sonohysterography (SHG) has been proposed as a better diagnostic test of the uterine cavity. However, it also suffers from a sensitivity and specificity inferior to that of hysteroscopy in most studies.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Cairo, Egypt
    • Beni-Suef University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Normal HSG
• Normal Ultrasound
• Normal Hormonal Profile
• Normal Semen

Exclusion Criteria:

• Abnormal findings in different investigations of infertility

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Other: Unexplained infertility; The patient was placed in the dorsal lithotomy position. Normal saline was used for uterine distension connected to the inflow channel on the sheath with intravenous tubing. The tip of the hysteroscope was positioned in the vaginal introitus, the labia being slightly separated with fingers. The vagina was distended with saline. The uterine cavity was systematically explored by rotating the fore-oblique scope in order to identify any anomaly in the uterine walls and/or the right and left tubal ostia. At this stage it was crucially important to avoid lateral movements as much as possible to reduce patient discomfort to a minimum. After that, the scope was removed Finally the evaluation and the data that had been found were written in details by the surgeon. Operative intervention was done if needed. Any complication in the form of pain, bleeding, vasovagal attack and perforation, were registered in the patient sheet.

Diagnostic test: office micro hysteroscopy; One hundred women with unexplained infertility recruited for office micro hysteroscopic sessions. A rigid fiberoptic 2-mm, 0 and 30 degrees angled hysteroscopy along with an operative channel for grasping forceps or scissors were used for both diagnostic and operative indications. The findings, complications, and patient tolerance were recorded.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Abnormal hysteroscopic findings	Description of different hysteroscopic abnormalities using micro-office hysteroscope	one year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Beni-Suef University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Cooper NA, Smith P, Khan KS, Clark TJ. A systematic review of the effect of the distension medium on pain during outpatient hysteroscopy. Fertil Steril. 2011 Jan;95(1):264-71. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2010.04.080. Epub 2010 Jun 23.
• Molinas CR, Campo R. Office hysteroscopy and adenomyosis. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2006 Aug;20(4):557-67. doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2006.01.019. Epub 2006 Mar 22.
• Vaid K, Mehra S, Verma M, Jain S, Sharma A, Bhaskaran S. Pan endoscopic approach "hysterolaparoscopy" as an initial procedure in selected infertile women. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Feb;8(2):95-8. doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2014/7271.4018. Epub 2014 Feb 3.
• Kowalczyk D, Guzikowski W, Wiecek J, Sioma-Markowska U. Clinical value of real time 3D sonohysterography and 2D sonohysterography in comparison to hysteroscopy with subsequent histopathological examination in perimenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2012;33(2):212-6.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 14, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 14, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): April 14, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 24, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 26, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): November 27, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 27, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 26, 2019
• Last Verified: November 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infertility; Infertility, Female
• Other Study ID Numbers: Beni-Suef 19

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No