Evaluation of the Uterine Causes of Female Infertility by Ultrasound: A Literature Review

Abstract

Background & aim: Various uterine disorders lead to infertility in women of reproductive ages. This study was performed to describe the common uterine causes of infertility and sonographic evaluation of these causes for midwives. Methods: This literature review was conducted on the manuscripts published at such databases as Elsevier, PubMed, Google Scholar, and SID as well as the original text books between 1985 and 2015. The search was performed using the following keywords: infertility, uterus, ultrasound scan, transvaginal sonography, endometrial polyp, fibroma, leiomyoma, endometrial hyperplasia, intrauterine adhesion, Asherman’s syndrome, uterine synechiae, adenomyosis, congenital uterine anomalies, and congenital uterine malformations. Results: Atotal of approximately 180 publications were retrieved from the respective databases out of which 44 articles were more related to our topic and studied as suitable references. In addition, 11 published books on ultrasonography and infertility were evaluated to provide more precise knowledge on the mentioned areas. According to the literature, ultrasonography has a crucial role in the investigation and differentiation of uterine disorders in females with infertility. However, the diagnosis depends on the day of menstruation, clinical prese-ntations, and the suspected uterine disorder. In this review, we provided the key notes about proper timing of the ultrasound examination. Conclusion: Ultrasonography is the first step imaging tool in the investigation of female infertility, which provides information for the diagnosis of uterine disorders. However, the accurate diagnosis depends on the “time of evaluation”. Therefore, every midwife needs to learn about the “optimum timing” for ultrasound evaluation based on each patient.

Keywords

• female infertility
• menstrual cycle
• Ultrasound
• uterus