Association of Thyroid Dysfunction with Female Infertility

Abstract

Objective:
To find association of hyperthyroidism with female infertility.
To find association of hypothyroidism with female infertility.
Cross sectional study design was conducted.
Place and Duration of Study:
Random Infertile females were selected amongst the patients who attended the outpatient department of Naseer Teaching Hospital (NTH) Peshawar from June 2013 to June 2014.
Material and Methods:
This study was done on hundred infertile females. They were selected randomly from amongst the patients who attended the outpatient department of Naseer Teaching Hospital Peshawar. A detailed history of patients was recorded on a proper questionnaire. This included information about patient age, weight, marriage duration, menstrual history, drug history, any symptoms and signs of thyroid disorder etc. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected aseptically with patient written consent and tested for thyroid function.
Results:
Hundred primary infertile patients were included in the study. Out of these 100 patients, TSH was raised in 14(14 %) of infertile females while 27(27 %) infertile females had low TSH levels. Based on the levels of T3 and T4, all the 41(41 %) thyroid dysfunction cases were subdivided further into overt and subclinical thyroid dysfunction. Our study showed that 5 % were suffering from overt hypothyroidism, 11 % from subclinical hypothyroidism, 7 % overt hyperthyroidism while 18 % were suffering from subclinical hyperthyroidism.
Conclusion:
This study shows that subclinical thyroid dysfunction is more common than overt thyroid dysfunction in infertile females. Therefore, measurement of serum T3, T4 and TSH levels should be included in the workup of infertility. The patient can revert back to the fertile state with appropriate treatment.