Week 7 Flashcards
What is the definition of Infertility?
- Primary vs. Secondary?
Infertility is defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months of unprotected sexual intercourse or therapeutic donor insemination in women < 35 years and 6 months in women ≥ 35 years of age.
- Primary infertility: infertility in persons who have never achieved pregnancy
- Secondary infertility: infertility in persons who have previously achieved at least one pregnancy
Prevalence of Infertilty?
Give an overview of the basic causes of infertility?
In Australia, the results of the 2006 National Fertility Survey showed that, across all age groups, 1 in 6 couples (16.7%) fail to achieve pregnancy after a year of trying
Causes of Female Infertility
- 9 Ovulatory dysfunction?
- 3 Tubal/pelvic causes?
- 6 Uterine causes?
- 4 Cervical causes?
Uterine causes
1. Uterine leiomyoma
2. Endometrial polyps
3. Bicornuate uterus
4. Septate uterus
5. Asherman syndrome
6. Mayer Rokitansky-Kuster Hauser syndrome
Cervical causes
1. Trauma (e.g., following cryotherapy, conization)
2. Immune factors (e.g., antisperm antibodies in the cervical mucus)
3. Diethylstilbestrol exposure in utero
4. Cervical anomalies (e.g., insufficient cervical mucus production)
Causes of Male Infertility
- Primary hypogonadism - 3 Testilcular? 3 Systemic? 3 Genetic?
- 6 Secondary hypogonadism causes?
- Sperm transport disorders?
Sperm transport disorders
1 - Obstructive azoospermia
- Absence of spermatozoa in semen despite normal spermatogenesis due to structural or functional abnormalities (e.g., obstruction, absence, dysfunction) along the sperm transport system (epididymis, vas deferens, ejaculatory duct)
- Possible causes include infection (e.g., gonorrhoea), iatrogeny (e.g., due to vasectomy), congenital (e.g., absent vas deferens in patients with cystic fibrosis), or genetic conditions (e.g., decreased sperm motility in primary ciliary dyskinesia).
2 - Sexual dysfunction
- Anejaculation
- Premature ejaculation
Causes of Male Infertility
- Endocrine & Systemic Disorders: Congenital? Acquired? Systemic?
- Primary testicular defects in spermatogenesis: Congenital? Acquired? Systemic? Genetic?
- Sperm transport disorders: Sexual dysfunction?
What history are you going to take from a couple with infertility issues?
What will be involved in the evaluation of female infertility?
- 8 Physical Examination?
- 7 Ovulatory function assessment?
- 4 Ovarian reserve assessment?
- 4 Structural uterine, tubal, and pelvic assessment?
Female infertility evaluation focuses on ovulatory function, ovarian reserve, and structural abnormalities.
What will be involved in the evaluation of male infertility?
- 6 Physical Examination?
- 6 Investigations?
Male infertility evaluation focuses on medical history and semen parameters.
General principles of management of infertile couples
- Ovulatory dysfunction?
- Sperm transport disorders?
List 4 lifestyle modifications for promoting fertility?
- Nutritional supplements?
- Weight management?
- Advice on tobacco, alcohol and recreational drugs?
- Advice on ovulation prediction to determine the fertile window?
Overview of lifestyle modifications for promoting fertility
Lifestyle modification and counselling includes:
1. optimising nutrition
2. appropriate body weight and exercise
3. avoiding tobacco and recreational drugs and minimising alcohol intake
4. discussing the normal fertile period and timing of sexual activity.
What is Assisted reproductive technology? 2 Types?
History and examination in infertility?
Laboratory investigations of infertility
- Females?
- Males?
When should you refer a couple for fertility treatment?
What are the causes of Causes of anovulatory infertility?
Describe an approach to ovulation induction in a woman with anovulatory infertility?
What tests do you need to perform before starting ovulation induction?
- What drug may be used a pre-treatment and why?
- Typical pretreatment regimen?
A typical progestogen pretreatment regimen is:
- medroxyprogesterone 10 mg orally, once daily for 10 days
OR
- norethisterone 5 mg orally, once daily for 10 days.
Outline 3 Drugs you may use in a woman for ovulation induction?
Gonadotrophins for ovulation induction
Ovulation induction with gonadotrophins involves use of:
- FSH, which recruits and matures follicles during the first few days of treatment [Note 5], followed by
- high-dose (5000 to 10 000 units) hCG, which acts like luteinising hormone (LH) to trigger active ovulation of a single dominant mature follicle. This is known as the ‘hCG trigger injection’ (also used in in-vitro fertilisation).
The main hazards of ovulation induction with gonadotrophins are development of multiple follicles (leading to a multiple pregnancy) and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Therefore, they should only be used be used with specialist guidance and monitoring.
Note 5: Some females who lack LH (eg as a result of severe hypothalamic or pituitary disorders) may also need a small dose of recombinant LH or a very low dose of hCG in the follicular phase.
How do you Assess a response to ovulation induction?
- Confirming ovulation after induction?
- Assessing for multiple follicles in ovulation induction?
Polycystic ovary syndrome and subfertility
- Treatment options?
Outline the approach to treating Endometriosis-related infertility?
Outline an approach to male infertility treatment?
List of commonly used tests to assess fertility?
World Health Organization classification of anovulation - Group 1, 2, & 3 and their causes?
4 Barriers to access and 3 Barriers to success of infertility treatment, and suggested mitigation strategies for them?
Outline an algorithm to an approach to managing infertility.
What is Intrauterine insemination?
- Outline the IUI Treatment Cycle?
- What are the benefits and risks of IUI?
Intrauterine insemination
- Intrauterine insemination involves washing sperm to remove chemicals in seminal fluid that may otherwise lead to uterine contractions. The washed sperm is placed in the uterus at the time of ovulation.
- Intrauterine insemination can be combined with ovulation induction. It can also be used alone in erectile dysfunction, couples where sexual or other difficulties preclude penetrative sexual intercourse, abnormalities of cervical mucus, unexplained infertility, or when donor sperm is used (eg for same-sex couples or people conceiving without a partner). Contraindications are tubal blockages and very poor sperm quality.
What is In-vitro fertilisation (IVF)?
- Outline the IVF Treatment cycle?
During your natural menstrual cycle, multiple follicles start growing. However, usually only 1 follicle is destined to ovulate and release an egg, as the rest go through cell death (atresia). During IVF, hormone injections are used to stimulate the ovaries to help enables multiple follicles to develop and be monitored and result in the multiple eggs being collected. When the developing follicles reach a certain size, indicating their potential of containing a mature egg (eggs ready to be fertilised with sperm), they are retrieved in an ultrasound-guided procedure under light anaesthetic. The eggs collected are placed with the sperm of your partner, or a donor in a culture dish in the laboratory to allow the eggs to hopefully fertilise, and embryos to develop. The embryos are monitored, and development is assessed over a period of time. Three to five days later, if suitable, one is placed into the uterus of the woman or person undergoing treatment in a procedure called an embryo transfer. If there is more than one embryo, the remaining embryo/s can be frozen and used in future treatment known as a frozen embryo transfer (FET).
What are the benefits and risks of IVF?
What are the success rates of IVF?
What are is Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)?
- Benefits & Risks?
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
- ICSI is sperm selection procedure used to overcome male factor infertility, which includes low sperm count, low sperm motility (movement), poor sperm morphology (shape) and problems with ejaculation. It may also be used in cycles involving frozen partner sperm, donor sperm, frozen eggs, or when no eggs become fertilised in a previous cycle with IVF.
- ICSI follows the same process as IVF, except in ICSI the embryologist uses a microscope to select a single sperm that is injected into the egg to hopefully achieve fertilisation.
- For couples with male factor infertility, research has shown ICSI is warranted to fertilise the eggs and give them a chance of having a baby. But for couples who don’t have male factor infertility, there is little evidence to demonstrate that using ICSI as the sperm selection technique in these circumstances increases the likelihood of a pregnancy.
Describe 11 complications/risks of treatment with in-vitro fertilisation IVF.
What is Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome?
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)
- Definition?
- Pathophysiology?
- 9 Clinical features?
- 5 Diagnostics?
- Management?
- 6 Complications?
Diagnostics in OHSS
1. CBC (↑ Hct, leukocytosis)
2. Serum electrolyte concentrations
3. Renal function tests
4. Liver function tests
5. Transvaginal ultrasound: ascites and ovarian enlargement
A couple has been unable to get pregnant since their marriage 18 months ago. The woman is a healthy 24-year-old lawyer with regular normal menstrual periods. She has no significant past medical history. Her husband is similarly healthy. How would you proceed to evaluate this couple?
What parameters are assessed in semen analysis? What are the pathological findings?