In this eye-opening episode of "Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday," we delve into the world of hydrosalpinx. A condition where the fallopian tube becomes swollen and filled with fluid, hydrosalpinx can drastically affect IVF outcomes and increase miscarriage risks. Join us as we explore how to identify this condition and discuss the pros and cons of undergoing surgery. We'll be joined by a specialist to help unravel these complexities and provide insights on navigating these challenges.
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of 'Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday' with Dr. Mark Amols. If you found this episode insightful, please share it with friends and family who might benefit from our discussion. Remember, your feedback is invaluable to us – leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred listening platform.
Stay connected with us for updates and fertility tips – follow us on Facebook. For more resources and information, visit our website at www.NewDirectionFertility.com.
Have a question or a topic you'd like us to cover? We'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us at TBFT@NewDirectionFertility.com.
Join us next Tuesday for more discussions on fertility, where we blend medical expertise with a touch of humor to make complex topics accessible and engaging. Until then, keep the conversation going and remember: understanding your fertility is a journey we're on together.
In this eye-opening episode of "Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday," we delve into the world of hydrosalpinx. A condition where the fallopian tube becomes swollen and filled with fluid, hydrosalpinx can drastically affect IVF outcomes and increase miscarriage risks. Join us as we explore how to identify this condition and discuss the pros and cons of undergoing surgery. We'll be joined by a specialist to help unravel these complexities and provide insights on navigating these challenges.
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of 'Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday' with Dr. Mark Amols. If you found this episode insightful, please share it with friends and family who might benefit from our discussion. Remember, your feedback is invaluable to us – leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred listening platform.
Stay connected with us for updates and fertility tips – follow us on Facebook. For more resources and information, visit our website at www.NewDirectionFertility.com.
Have a question or a topic you'd like us to cover? We'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us at TBFT@NewDirectionFertility.com.
Join us next Tuesday for more discussions on fertility, where we blend medical expertise with a touch of humor to make complex topics accessible and engaging. Until then, keep the conversation going and remember: understanding your fertility is a journey we're on together.
Today we talk about hydrosalpings, which is. A condition where the floping tube can. Be swollen and can cause problems with getting pregnant. I'm, Dr. Mark Amos, and this is taco. About fertility Tuesday. During the workup of infertility, it's very. Common to get what's called a histosopingogram, which is a test where they put. Dye, which is a contrast into the uterus, which then goes through the floping. Tubes and lets us know the floping tubes are open or closed. But there's actually another thing that can be noticed. Sometimes the tubes can be swollen because. One side of them is blocked and. They fill up with fluid. And we call that a hydrosalpinks, hydro standing for fluid filled and sal pinks, meaning the fallopian tube, giving you the word hydrosalpinks. Now, clearly, if the tube is blocked. That could be a reason for infertility. As a matter of fact, if you. See a hydrosalpinks, that means at some point in time, something happened to affect the tube. Whether it was a previous infection, whether it's, endometriosis, whether it's even just. Surgery that might have happened in the. Past that caused scarring, something blocked the end of the tube to now make it swell up. The question is, is that the reason for infertility? So if it is actually blocking your. Tube, which clearly, if it's swollen, it must be blocked, then, yes, it's going to affect fertility. And you would think, well, then we just need to do IVF and everything. Will go fine, which is a very reasonable thought. If you're bypassing a tube and the tube is blocked, it should work. But what's interesting is that if you do IVF and you have this hydrosalpings, your chances of IVF working drop by 50% and your risk of a miscarriage doubles. Now, how can that be? You're bypassing the floping tubes. I mean, that is the answer for tubal disease, IVF. But the problem isn't the tubes. The problem is the swollen tube. The fluid that is in that tube. Is not just sterile water, but instead it's blood from your period. It could be infectious material, and that Fluid contains inflammatory agents that are harmful to the embryo and could even disturb the embryo, what's inside the uterus. This is very significant. Imagine if your chances are, let's say. 60% with a euphoid embryo and you. Have a hydrosopinx, your chances are now only 30%. And now with a double in the miscarriage rate, it could even be lower when it comes to the live birth rate. So anytime you have a hydrosopinx, it is a serious issue. Additionally, if you see a hydrosopinx on one side and the other side is. Open, there probably is some tubable disease. There, and you want to take that into account when you're talking about treatment options. So, for example, if your hydrosopics is. Removed but your other tube is still. There, is it functional? Does it have disease in it? It's hard to know because whatever caused. The problem is probably on both sides, right? It's not like the infection or endometriosis. Would only go to one side. And so anytime you have a hydrosopinx, in the back of our mind, we. Have to be thinking, there's a tubal disease here, and it's possible it could. Be on the other tube, even if it's not showing up in the test. Because a isrosopingogram is not a perfect test. What it's very good at, though, is finding hydrocell pinks. What isn't good at finding hydrosolpinks are ultrasounds. It's not uncommon to find a hydrosol. Pinks on an ultrasound, but usually at that point, they are so swollen, it shows up as a serpiginous structure inside the pelvis. And usually that lets someone know that. There might be a hydrosalpingx there. But if it's not swollen and not. Filled up at the time, it may. Be hard to see that. Now. You may be wondering, well, if it's not filled up, then why is there a problem? Because the toxins aren't there to fall into the uterus. And that's sort of true, but we. Know that with every period, it can fill up and it might be come down again. And so you can't just say it's not going to cause a problem just. Because it's not swollen at the time you see it. And that's where the histosalpenogram comes in. There you can fill it up and you can see if it swells up and if it's blocked, if, it. Is, then you have a hydrosalpingx. Now, anytime you do that test and you find that it's important to get on antibiotics, because some of that material, infectious material, can go into the pelvis and cause a pelvic inflammatory disease, infection. This is why the people who are. At highest risk for some type of. Hydrosolpings are going to be people who have had pelvic inflammatory disease, which is where they had, like, a gorgeous chlamydia infection in the past, or people have endometriosis, or even someone who had a ruptured appendix, all those things can cause the ends of the fallopian tubes to. Scar up, which can then lead to a hydrosalpings. So the point here is, if someone. Thinks you may have it, I'm, Not saying you need to go and. Have it removed, but you really should do a confirmatory test. Now, sometimes it's so obvious you don't need to, and you can do the. Confirmatory test and the treatment at the same time. But in general, if someone says there. Might be one and you're not sure, you can do the historosoppenogram. But it's very important to understand that. There'S a high risk for infection, so you need to be on antibiotics. So now that you have the hydrosopics. Diagnosed and let's say you're going to. Want to get pregnant, or you already have embryos and you want to do. A transfer, the question is, what do you do now? So because you're not currently infected, meaning like severe pain from a hydrosopinx being infected and causing you an infection, you. Technically don't have to go jump to surgery at the moment, unless you're wanting. To get pregnant now, these can, in. The future, develop into infection. I've had patients who have had the hydrosompinks for years and then one day. Has to have it removed because they're infected and having severe pain. But if you're wanting to get pregnant. You'Re really going to want to do something about this and you're going to. Want to remove it again. It doesn't mean you have to. But as we talked about, 50% reduction. In your chances of getting pregnant and. Increase in miscarriage by two times because. Those toxins work their way into the uterine cavity and can affect the embryo. The problem is the options to remove 100 stoppings are not really simple and are somewhat invasive. In the past, there used to be. An option where you could basically put a metal coil through the uterus going through the vagina, and that was called sure. And that procedure would block the tube. And you wouldn't have to worry about. Unfortunately, that has been taken off of. The market for reasons, due to. Some issues with the coils that were. Put into the floping tube. But the only options now are going. To be surgical procedures like a laparoscopy, where someone either goes in there and. Removes the tube or clips the tube. Now, when I say clip, what I'm. Talking about is they take a little. Device, sometimes called a filshy clip, but there are other ways to do it, and they block the tube near the opening that will prevent the fluid from. Getting in, and you won't have to. Worry about the hydrosalpings. The problem is with doing that. The tube is still there, and if you ever get an infection in the. Future, it could potentially need surgery unexpectedly. Now, if you're able to remove the. Tube, the benefited, it's gone, you don't have to deal with it anymore, and. You have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, both of these require a laparoscopy. To be performed, and the old vagile histoscopic technique called ensure is no longer around. Maybe someone will come with something in. The future, but currently, unfortunately, it is surgery. Personally, I would never recommend anyone to. Do an embryo transfer with having a hydrostalpings. I would always recommend to remove it. Now, you can make the argument that. Hey, we haven't tried getting pregnant, and we're just going to try on our own, that's fine, but if you're not. Getting pregnant at that point, you might want to remove it. But if you have an embryo and you went through the work to make these embryos, I'd always recommend to have. The hydrosoppics removed before doing a transfer. Now, you can make the argument that, hey, I have 20 embryos and I'm only one. One kid. Okay, then I think it's not unreasonable to say I'm going to do the. Transfer without doing the, surgery. But I personally would not recommend that, because even if it doesn't work, that's a simple thing. But what if it does work and you have a miscarriage? That is much harder to deal with, especially when you know you could have prevented it. Now, everyone's probably thinking, oh, my God, what if I have a hydrosalpings? So, like we talked about, those causes of hydrosopingx are obviously not very common. So most people are not going to have this. Now, if you have those things, it. Still doesn't mean you have a hydrosopings. And as long as you've had an. HSG, called a historic angogram, then you've already ruled out that you don't have that. If you haven't had that test and you've been having failed, IVF cycles. That is something you definitely need to. Do to make sure you don't have a hydrosalpings. Matter of fact, there's a test out there called receptiva, and in that test, it actually looks for certain factors, and. Sometimes it will come back showing that there might be a hydrosalpings. And many times for people who have not had an HSG, we did that test on the receptiva, found it was positive, and then did a historical pingogram, found the hydrosopings and removed it and. Was able to help them get pregnant. So you don't need to have some. Type of unusual vaginal discharge or pelvic. Pain to have a hydrostoppings. You could be completely asymptomatic and have one. Now, as a doctor and a scientist, I look at everything from statistics. So in my mind, I'm thinking, why would you not remove it? You're going to have a better chance. But there is a psychological component to this. I mean, removing your fallopian tube, or potentially fallopian tubes, has destined you forever to have to do IVF. And I think that's an important thing. To look at, because what if you have very bad ovarian reserve and you're not a great candidate for IVF? Then you may want to maybe clip. Them, in case in the future, if they're able to fix tubes like that. You'Ll at least have those tubes as an option. But for most people, removing the tube. Is probably going to be the best option. I'm sorry that you have to do that, because it is one of those things. Once you lose that, you lose a. Part of you, and that was the. Part that helped you get pregnant. That's a pretty big step. And to know that you have to do IVF is very scary, because we. Like to think IVF works all the. Time, but it doesn't. And for many of us, it takes multiple tries to get there. So when it comes to a hydrosalpings, you want to be thinking about it. But remember, if you had the historgram. It'S likely ruled out. If you're one of those people who have had recurrent failures with IVF, it's. Very important to make sure you don't have a hydrosalpings. And if you do have one, like we talked about, you need to make that decision about, is surgery the right thing for you? I will usually tell people to have it removed, especially if they did IVF. But again, if someone's doing something like iuis, I don't think it's unreasonable to keep trying them with the hydrosol pinks there. But in my mind, one of the other hard parts would be the miscarriage. And so, again, that's a personal decision that you have to make between you. Your partner, and your doctor. In the end, there's no wrong or right. There's just statistics. But a 50% drop is very, very large. Hopefully this episode was helpful to you or maybe a loved one. Maybe you have a friend who's going through this or you know, someone who keeps failing at IVF and you can let them know about this episode and. Maybe able to help them was able to help you. I'm glad it was. As always, I, greatly appreciate everyone who listens to podcast and tells everyone about us. I always appreciate all the reviews and. The people who write in and tell me the topics they would like me to do. I'm excited about this new year and some new projects we're doing. Dr. Yl, Salem and myself will be starting a new show called Sperm Meets Egg where we'll be talking about patients actual treatments and going over their cases and talking about live with people calling in and going over their history. It should be a lot of fun. And our first episode is going to be January 25. You can check out our instagram page and soon there'll be a website at ah spermmeatsegg.com. I look forward to talking you again next week on Taco Bell Fertility Tuesday.