Utero-Tubal Sperm Transport and Its Impairment in Endometriosis and Adenomyosis

:  The uterus is composed of different smooth muscle layers that serve various functions. First, menstrual debris is expulsed at the time of the menses. Second, sperm is transported in the preovulatory phase to maximize fertility, and third, the human embryo is placed in an adequate setting during i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2007-04, Vol.1101 (1), p.38-48
Main Authors: KISSLER, STEFAN, ZANGOS, STEPHAN, WIEGRATZ, INKA, KOHL, JOACHIM, RODY, ACHIM, GAETJE, REGINE, DOEBERT, NATASCHA, WILDT, LUDWIG, KUNZ, GEORG, LEYENDECKER, GERHARD, KAUFMANN, MANFRED
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
endometriosis
Endometriosis - diagnosis
Endometriosis - pathology
Endometriosis - physiopathology
Fallopian Tubes - pathology
Fallopian Tubes - physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Myometrium - pathology
Myometrium - physiopathology
Sperm Transport - physiology
Spermatozoa - pathology
Spermatozoa - physiology
Uterus - pathology
Uterus - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary::  The uterus is composed of different smooth muscle layers that serve various functions. First, menstrual debris is expulsed at the time of the menses. Second, sperm is transported in the preovulatory phase to maximize fertility, and third, the human embryo is placed in an adequate setting during implantation. Endometriosis is a gynecologic disorder leading to severe pain symptoms such as severe pain during menstruation (dysmenorrhea), chronic pelvic pain, pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia), and abnormal uterine bleeding. Besides, endometriosis is often associated with female infertility and exhibits a massive impairment in the physiology of uterine contractility that can be documented by the in vivo examination method of hysterosalpingoscintigraphy (HSSG). In addition, endometriosis is associated in 80–90% of subjects with adenomyosis and our data clearly indicate that sperm transport is disturbed by hyperperistalsis when at least one focus of adenomyosis can be detected via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and turns into dysperistalsis (a complete failure in sperm transport capacity) when diffuse adenomyosis affecting all myometrial uterine muscle layers is detected. Hence, dysperistalsis is significantly associated with reduced spontaneous pregnancy rates. We therefore recommend MRI and HSSG in every sterility workup.
ISSN:0077-8923
1749-6632
DOI:10.1196/annals.1389.036