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Mr Tariq Miskry
Independent Doctor's Federation
How can endometriosis affect fertility?
Mr Tariq Miskry explains that endometriosis is a complex and invasive disease, and can cause adhesions in the fallopian tube or ovary, and therefore mechanically prevent the egg being picked up by the fallopian tube. It’s also thought that the chemical environment of endometriosis can have an effect on egg quality, fertilisation rates, and also implantation rates.
Transcript
In vitro seems to affect fertility in two different ways. One, in complex disease, and what we mean by complex disease is that you have more invasive disease. It's not superficial. It's going into underlying structures and sticking things together. Sticking things together is called adhesions, and those adhesions could involve the fallopian tube or ovary, and therefore mechanically prevent the egg being picked up by the fallopian tube. So, that's one mechanism. Most women though don't have that kind of complex disease, and they have peritoneal disease where the fallopian tube and ovary appear freely mobile. In that situation, it's thought that the chemical environment of endometriosis can have an effect on egg quality, fertilisation rates, and also implantation rates, because we know there are lots of inflammatory chemicals produced locally in the presence of endometriosis.