diagnosis guide
If you’ve just received a medical diagnosis, or you’re concerned that something in your present or past health history might be jeopardizing your fertility, check here for quick info on common medical conditions and how they can affect conception and pregnancy.
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Pelvic Infammatory Disease
What It Is
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a secondary infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and/or cervix, usually caused by previous untreated sexually transmitted diseases.
Who Gets It
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 million women a year contract PID, and 100,000 of those women become infertile because of it. Ninety percent of PID cases result from chlamydia and gonorrhea infections, two of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.
Symptoms
PID often causes lower abdominal pain, fever, and vaginal discharge. But sometimes the disease is silent, or symptoms are so mild that it goes undetected.
How It's Diagnosed/Detected
Doctors can usually diagnose active PID with a physical exam and patient history. If there is damage from past infections, it may not be detected until you have trouble conceiving. A doctor can diagnose scarring or blockage through laparoscopy or a hysterosalpingogram, in which dye is sent through the uterus and fallopian tubes and the organs are then x-rayed.
How It Affects Fertility (And Pregnancy)
PID can cause infertility by scarring the fallopian tubes, making it difficult or impossible for eggs to move through them. According to the American Social Health Association, 15 percent of infertile women can attribute their problem to tubal damage caused by PID. Women who have had PID and do conceive are at increased risk for ectopic pregnancy, a potentially life-threatening situation in which the embryo implants in the fallopian tube instead of in the uterus.
Treatment
Any woman with pelvic pain or other symptoms of PID should see a doctor immediately. PID can be cured with several types of antibiotics, but antibiotic treatment does not reverse any damage that has already occurred to the reproductive organs. Doctors can sometimes perform laparoscopic surgery to remove scar tissue from earlier PID and reopen blocked fallopian tubes.
Pregnancy Prognosis
The longer the delay getting treatment for PID, the more likely a woman will become infertile or have a future ectopic pregnancy because of damage to the fallopian tubes. Doctors can repair minor damage from an untreated bout of PID and restore fertility, but if damage is severe a woman will most likely need in vitro fertilization in order to get pregnant.
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