IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 49 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.31083/j.ceog4903070
Open Access Original Research
Fallopian tube patency diagnosed by laparoscopic chromopertubation in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome and non-subfertile controls: a retrospective case-control study
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1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Clinical Division of Gynaecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
2 Positive Steps Fertility and Parryscope Fertility, Madison, MS 39110, USA
3 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
*Correspondence: johannes.ott@meduniwien.ac.at (Johannes Ott)
Academic Editor: Michael H. Dahan
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2022, 49(3), 70; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.ceog4903070
Submitted: 18 September 2021 | Revised: 13 December 2021 | Accepted: 14 December 2021 | Published: 15 March 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Hyperandrogenism has been associated with tubal dysfunction. Previous studies have not used non-subfertile controls when assessing hyperandrogenic women through laparoscopic chromopertubation (LC), the gold standard for tubal patency testing. Methods: The objective of this retrospective study was to compare the results of LC between women with medication-resistant anovulatory polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS, n = 202) and non-subfertile women with ovarian cysts (controls, n = 48). Results: There were no statistically significant differences between PCOS women and controls for the prevalence of bilateral tubal occlusion (2.5% versus 4.2%, respectively; p = 1.000) or overall rates for occlusion (7.4% of tubes assessed versus 6.3%, respectively; p = 0.828). More PCOS patients needed high pressure chromopertubation to demonstrate bilateral tubal patency than controls (12.4% versus 2.1%; p = 0.036). In the PCOS group, patients needing higher pressure to achieve patency demonstrated higher testosterone levels than women requiring typical pressure (0.66 ± 0.17 versus 0.47 ± 0.24 ng/mL; p = 0.001). Conclusions: For women with ovarian cysts and without subfertility, six percent of all Fallopian tubes are occluded. PCOS patients have similar rates of tubal occlusion, making these women a reasonable but more available control group for LC studies. Higher total testosterone levels were associated with higher LC pressures to demonstrate bilateral patency.

Keywords
Fallopian tube
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Chromopertubation
Androgens
Fertility
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