Female Genital Tuberculosis in Infertile Women

Keeping in view the endemicity of tuberculosis in Jammu and Kashmir and the lack of information about the prevalence of Female Genital TB, this study was primarily undertaken to diagnose the genital tuberculosis in infertile women and to determine the utility of the existing standard diagnostic tests in our hospital.

A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 1 year. A total of 500 women attended Gynaecology OPD to evaluate the incidence of genital tuberculosis using CBNAAT (Cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test) and culture to diagnose female genital tuberculosis.

Majority of the respondents (82.35%) were having primary infertility. Majority of the respondents (91.20%) were negative for genital tuberculosis and followed by positive patients for genital tuberculosis (8.80%). the sensitivity and specificity for CBNAAT (Catridge Nucleic Acid Amplification) samples 82.40% and 100% respectively while as, the sensitivity and specificity for microscopic culture (Ziehl Neelsen) were 37.84% and 98.20% respectively.

FGTB is a prevalent condition, particularly among infertile women. Early detection and treatment can lead to successful pregnancies. Individualization, counselling, and a multidisciplinary approach will produce greater results in the advanced stages. ART should only be provided to a select few patients after establishing that the disease is dormant, as hormonal treatment of ART can result in disease reactivation, which is highly counterproductive.