Linked Life Data

16684842

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/16684842

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
8
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-8-4
pubmed:abstractText
Recent medical literature has quite extensively addressed the use of various terminologies within the field of reproductive medicine. This discussion has, however, so far overlooked the fact that one of the most frequently made diagnosis, so-called unexplained infertility (UI), not only didactically but, even more importantly, clinically, appears unsustainable as an independent diagnosis. The arguments in support of such a contention are manifold. The diagnosis of UI is highly subjective. It is dependent on which diagnostic tests have been performed (or have been omitted) and at what level of quality. Paradoxically, a diagnosis of UI will, therefore, be more often reached if the diagnostic workup is incomplete or of poor quality. Supported by evidence from the literature, the argument is made that the conditions, most frequently misdiagnosed as UI, are endometriosis, tubal infertility (especially distal and peritubal disease), premature ovarian ageing and immunological infertility. Because of the obvious unreliability of a diagnosis of UI and the widely reported unevenness in diagnostic criteria, we recommend the abandonment of UI as a formal infertility diagnosis. Better efforts to reach infertility diagnoses more accurately should improve the diagnostic accuracy of hitherto frequently missed diagnoses, which often falsely have led to a diagnosis of UI.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0268-1161
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
21
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1951-5
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Unexplained infertility: does it really exist?
pubmed:affiliation
Center for Human Reproduction, New York, NY 10021, USA. ngleicher@thechr.com
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article