Endometrial Histological Findings in Infertile Women

Background and Objective: Infertility is a global health problem and in Pakistan frequency of subfertility is 21.9%. The fact that cyclical histological changes in the endometrium correlate with fluctuating biorhythms of various hormone levels enables histological appearance of the endometrium to be a reliable parameter to evaluate the cause of infertility. Objective: To discern the histological patterns of endometrium in infertile women. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out at the clinic of one of the authors. The study included 120 consecutive cases of infertile women seeking Assisted Reproductive Treatment. D & C was performed to obtain the endometrial biopsy. The biopsy specimen was then fixed, processed and sectioned. Haematoxylin and Eosin staining was performed. Histological sections were examined under the microscope for evaluation of morphological features. The results were analyzed and percentages calculated. Result: In the present study majority of patients (46.6%) belonged to 26-30 years age group. Amongst the morphological patterns observed, the percentage of cases in secretory phase was the maximum. There were 17 (14%) cases of cystic hyperplasia and the feature of intraluminal tufting was noted in 65 (54%) cases. Additionally, there were 4 (3.3%) cases of non specific endometritis and 1 (0.8%) case of tuberculous endometritis. In majority of the cases (46.7%) there was sporadic lymphocytic infiltration. Conclusion: Endometrial biopsy give information about hormone response of endometrium as well as the local factors of endometrium concerning non-specific and specific infections, tuberculous endometritis, hyperplasias and anovulatory cycle.