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Related Experiment Videos

Unexplained infertility: does it really exist?

N Gleicher1, D Barad

  • 1Center for Human Reproduction, New York, NY 10021, USA. ngleicher@thechr.com

Human Reproduction (Oxford, England)
|May 11, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Unexplained infertility (UI) is an unsustainable diagnosis due to its subjectivity and reliance on diagnostic quality. We recommend abandoning UI to improve accurate infertility diagnoses.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Medicine
  • Infertility Diagnostics

Background:

  • The diagnosis of unexplained infertility (UI) is frequently used in reproductive medicine.
  • The clinical and didactic sustainability of UI as an independent diagnosis has been overlooked.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the diagnosis of unexplained infertility (UI).
  • To argue for the abandonment of UI as a formal diagnosis.
  • To highlight conditions often misdiagnosed as UI.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review and critical analysis of existing diagnostic criteria for infertility.
  • Examination of the subjective nature and quality-dependency of UI diagnosis.
  • Identification of conditions frequently misdiagnosed as UI.

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Main Results:

  • The diagnosis of UI is highly subjective and dependent on the quality and completeness of diagnostic workup.
  • Incomplete or poor-quality diagnostic evaluations paradoxically increase the likelihood of a UI diagnosis.
  • Endometriosis, tubal infertility, premature ovarian aging, and immunological infertility are frequently misdiagnosed as UI.

Conclusions:

  • Unexplained infertility (UI) is an unreliable and unsustainable diagnosis.
  • Abandoning UI as a formal diagnosis is recommended.
  • Improving diagnostic accuracy for specific conditions will reduce misdiagnosis as UI.