The Fallopian Tube in Infertility and IVF Practice
William L. Ledger, Seang Lin Tan (Editor), Adil BahathiqBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
The Fallopian tube has until recently been a neglected structure, bypassed by IVF and seen only as a tube that transports the egg to the uterus. More recently, its central role as the site of fertilization and early embryogenesis has been recognized, along with the major effects of tubal disease, such as chlamydia trachomatis, on fertility. Tubal surgery is an option for those women who avoid IVF because of anxiety about medication side-effects or for religious reasons. The tube is also the site for female sterilization and its reversal. This definitive guide to the Fallopian tube and its disorders collates all these topics, with authoritative text covering the spectrum of clinically relevant topics in a digestible fashion. It will be of interest to gynecologists, specialists in reproductive medicine and infertility and family planning, and others with interest in this fascinating and underestimated organ of reproduction.
Editorials
From The Critics
Reviewer: Kenan Rifat Omurtag, MD(Washington University School of Medicine)Description: This is a focused review of the fallopian tube and its affect on infertility and its treatment. In addition to the requisite information about physiology of tubal transport, infection, patency assessment, and ectopic pregnancy, the book also provides insight into co-culture techniques in assisted reproductive technologies.
Purpose: It is a definitive guide to all things fallopian tube. Given the prevalence of tubal factor infertility worldwide, it is imperative that healthcare providers have a better understanding of how certain infections mediate tubal infertility. The book also presents information about tubal surgery and pregnancy outcomes in those patients that are not candidates for in vitro fertilization. The book does a good job of meeting these objectives, which often get lost in larger, broader textbooks.
Audience: Gynecologists and others who provide infertility care are the intended audience. The book caters to those who might perform tubal surgery and participate in assisted reproductive techniques. The authors comprise a credible, international group of experts in the field of reproductive medicine and cite relevant original research in each chapter.
Features: The book presents information on tubal patency assessment and summarizes the literature well. Information on the physiology of tubal transport and the pathologic effects of infection and toxins particularly stands out. The book ends with a review of tubal surgery and in-vitro fertilization. The authors scatter historical perspectives throughout, which adds context to the present-day understanding of the fallopian tube. Although there is a lot of repetition in the illustrations, they are helpful.
Assessment: Overall, this is a worthy addition to the gynecology and infertility literature as it focuses on the role of the fallopian tube in infertility, a topic that often gets abridged in other textbooks. Although this entire book is just over 100 pages, the authors do a good job of summarizing the salient points. I expect subsequent editions might expand, particularly as new techniques of tubal occlusion before IVF and a need to better understand the affect of tubal removal on ovarian reserve develop.