ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Metroplasty has been shown to improve the reproductive outcomes in patients with congenital uterine anomalies, especially for those suffering from multiple fetal losses. This study was performed to evaluate the impact of abdominal metroplasty on the reproductive outcomes in patients with infertility or recurrent abortions. METHODS: Among fifty cases diagnosed as Mullerian anornalies at SNUH from Oct. 1988 to Dec. 1996, only 26 cases were included in this retrospective study. Inclusion criteria was the patients with primary infertility(n=7) or recurrent spontaneous abortions(n 19) who underwent abdominal metroplasty for the correction of uterine anomalies. Statistical analysis was carried out by chi-square test using SPSS ver 7.0. RESULTS: Bicornuate uterus was the most common uterine anomaly as 53.9%(14/26). After metroplaty, the overall live birth rate was increased from 0% to 57.7%(15/26), and the live birth rate in patients with recurrent abortions, 68.4%(13/19), was significantly higher than that in patients with primary infertility, 28.6%(2/7). The rate of fetal wastage was dropped from 96.0%(48/50) to 41.7%(10/24) after metroplasty in 19 patients with recurrent abortions. Pelvic pathologic lesions associated with uterine anomalies were diagnosed in 11(42.3%) patients, and 45.5%(5/11) of them succeeded in live births postoperatively. CONCLUSION: These data showed that metroplasty may improve the reproductive outcomes definitely in patients with recurrent abortions. Although the impact of metroplasty on the fertility in infertile patients was not definite, it seems better to perform metroplasty in infertile patients with uterine anomaly, which offers the opportunity to correct the combined pelvic lesions such as myoma, ovarian cyst or endometriosis, and to avoid the chance of abortion after ART(assisted reproductive technology) such as 1VF-ET.