According to the World Health Organization, every third couple has problems with conceiving a child. The reasons for this condition can be different: there are about 8 different diseases in men and at least 22 in women.
The most common reason spouses cannot become parents is that the fallopian tubes are infertile, when these paired structures, the fallopian tubes, cannot carry the egg into the uterus. It is followed by endocrinological infertility arising from disorders of the ovaries or the glands "commanding" them. In third place among the causes of infertility are diseases of the uterus. This is called uterine infertility.
Uterine infertility
Uterine infertility is when the uterus becomes unable to accept the embryo and allow it to grow. That is, an egg is produced, but it:
- or cannot go into the uterine cavity to meet with the sperm: when a tumor, inflammation or adhesions are located directly near the fallopian tubes;
- or it can and is quite capable of meeting with the sperm, but the altered structure of the uterus makes it impossible for the implantation itself;
- or can meet with sperm, can be implanted. But due to the development of hormonal imbalances associated with uterine disease, the muscle layer of the uterus contracts and pushes the embryo.
In the last two cases, the embryo that has already begun to divide has to go out with the menstrual blood.
Uterine factor infertility occurs in 15% of female infertility cases. Its reasons are:
- endometriosis, in particular, its form - adenomyosis, when the endometrium also appears inside the muscular layer of the uterus;
- endometrial hyperplasia, including such a form as endometrial polyps;
- congenital defects in the development or position of the uterus: its complete absence, Rokitansky-Kustner syndrome, different variants of doubling, saddle uterus, turning it around a vertical or longitudinal axis, bending the uterus, shifting it up or to the sides;
- benign uterine tumor - myoma (fibroids);
- acquired defects of the structure of the uterus: intrauterine adhesions, including Asherman's syndrome, the consequences of the postponed tuberculous endometritis, cicatricial deformities of the uterine cavity;
- foreign bodies in the uterine cavity: intrauterine devices and their individual parts, non-absorbable threads and materials remaining during the operation, as well as bone fragments of the fetus.
Causes of uterine infertility
The reasons for the appearance of uterine infertility are many, they differ for each pathology. The main conditions that cause a violation of the structure of the uterus are:
- genetic disorders;
- an increased amount of estrogen in the blood, which is caused, among other things, by hormone-producing tumors of the adrenal glands, ovaries, hypothalamus or pituitary gland;
- abortion (especially multiple);
- scraping, surgery in the uterine cavity;
- childbirth, especially complicated;
- hysteroscopy performed with violations of the manipulation technique;
- pulmonary tuberculosis complicated by genital tuberculosis.
Treatment of uterine infertility
How this type of infertility will be treated depends on what disease is the cause of the uterine factor. So, if it is:
- uterine fibroids, it can be treated with hormonal drugs, and then individually decide whether to remove the nodes or not;
- adenomyosis, then its treatment is mainly conservative;
- intrauterine adhesions - then they are treated only by surgical dissection, followed by the appointment of physiotherapeutic treatment;
- endometrial hyperplasia is treated with curettage, the endometrium is examined histologically, after which further treatment tactics are selected;
- endometrial polyps are removed, after which the uterine cavity is scraped out and the endometrium is sent for histological examination;
- some anomalies in the structure of the uterus are treated surgically, but, unfortunately, there are those that cannot be corrected.
Only after treatment of the underlying cause of uterine infertility can attempts to become pregnant be made. Even if it is not possible to conceive a child right away, but with the help of treatment, the structure of the uterus has returned to normal, you can become a mother! For this, in vitro fertilization is used.
