Fertility and pregnancy outcome after myomectomy in sterility patients

To examine total pregnancy rate, pregnancy rate in relation to pretreatment with GnRH-analogues, the frequency of myoma recurrencies and the influence of size, number and localization of removed myomata on pregnancy rate and outcome in infertility patients after myomectomy.

A comparative, retrospective non-randomized clinical study involving 67 patients with desire for children and no other recognizable infertility factor. Myomectomy had been performed between 1985 and 1993. Most patients had been operated by laparotomy using microsurgical instruments and techniques. Thirty-three patients had been treated with a GnRH agonist for usually 3 months, and in 34 patients the operation was performed without pretreatment. Patients were followed up to June, 1994. All patients were mailed a questionnaire and invited to an ultrasound examination.

Thirty-nine of the 67 patients (58.2%) became pregnant, and a total of 51 pregnancies were observed. Of the women who actually conceived, 61.5% did so within the first year. There was no significant difference in pregnancy rates between patients who had been pretreated with GnRH agonists and those who had not. However, 1 year after the operation the group of GnRH-treated women was significantly overrepresented among those already pregnant (P = 0.02). Sonografical examination revealed in 31 out of the 67 patients (46.3%) recurrent myomata > 1 cm in diameter. There was no statistically significant difference in the pregnancy rates between patients with and without recurrencies. However, there was a significant tendency toward a loss or short duration of the pregnancy due to spontaneous abortion and premature delivery in patients with recurrent or persistent myomata (P < 0.01). Pregnancy rate was significantly lower in patients with more than five myomata removed (P < 0.001). In the group with a larger myoma volume the pregnancy rate was significantly higher than in the group with the smaller one (P < 0.01), possibly indicating that the size on removal of myomata is an important factor for infertility patients. Concerning the localization of the removed myomata, no statistically significant difference was found in the pregnancy rates between various localizations. Of the 51 pregnancies, 31 (60.8%) led to a delivery, vaginal in 13 cases (41.9%) and 18 times by Caesarean section (58.1%). Of the pregnancies that were lost, 39.2% were due to spontaneous abortion or ectopic pregnancy.

Our study supports reports on the benefits of myomectomy, performed with the appropriate technique, in patients with otherwise unknown cause of infertility. It shows, additionally, that characteristics of myomata, such as number and size, may influence postmyomectomy pregnancy rates.