Video Interview: What a New Study Reveals About Fallopian Tube Recanalization and Selective Salpingography

Could fallopian tube recanalization be a more viable and cost-effective option than assisted fertility procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF)?

Lindsay Machan, MD and colleagues have noted intriguing findings in a new study looking at the use of selective salpingography and subsequent fallopian tube recanalization for women with infertility issues. Dr. Machan, an interventional radiologist and associate professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia, recently presented the study findings at the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) conference in Boston.

In a video interview, Dr. Machan noted that the use of selective salpingography revealed significant tubal disease in nearly 16 percent of the patients in the study. Over 56 percent of the study patients who had unilateral or bilateral fallopian tube blockages were able to undergo fallopian tube recanalization, a simple, half-hour procedure that can be done on an outpatient basis, according to Dr. Machan, an associate professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Machan added that the use of sedation with repeat hysterosalpingogram revealed normal fallopian tubes for nearly 24 percent of women who were previously diagnosed with blockages in one or both fallopian tubes.

Dr. Machan has studied and performed selective salpingography and fallopian tube recanalization procedures for over three decades. While the procedures are not new, Dr. Machan said he is hopeful that findings from the new study, reportedly the largest study (involving 956 women) to date on these procedures, will increase the awareness and utilization of these procedures for woman with infertility issues.

For additional insights from Dr. Machan, watch the video below: