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Hysterosalpingo-Foam Sonography (HyFoSy): A reliable, easy and safe initial step to check on your tubes

Checking on your tubes is an essential part of fertility investigation tests. Ultrasound based techniques have made checking your tubes an easy task for most women.

Along with ovulation testing and sperm count tests, tubal checking is an essential part of the initial fertility investigation. The tubes serve a very important role in fertility, as they allow egg and sperm to get together after ovulation, so that fertilisation can follow. Therefore, it is important to confirm that the tubes are open and allow for egg and sperm to form an embryo, while still on the move from the tubes to the endometrium, where finally, implantation takes place.

Although laparoscopic assessment has been a standard method to check whether the tubes are open, hysterosalpingogram (HSG), a conventional X-ray examination with contrast, soon took a certain place in the investigation of tubal condition. However, as both procedures above are invasive and occasionally linked to complications and side-effects, newer ultrasound-based techniques have been tested for tubal function, HyFoSy being one of the most recently used techniques.

Hystero-salpnigo-foam sonography (HyFoSy) makes use of a foam-like contrast solution which is passed through the vagina and cervix, directly into the uterus, through a fine catheter, while a vaginal ultrasound examination at the same time scans for the presence of foam inside the tubes. It is an easy test to have done, fairly quick, as it lasts only 10 minutes on average, and causes minimal discomfort, if any at all.

HyFoSy ultrasound testing provides accurate results, and when compared with conventional X-ray HSG and laparoscopic tubal testing shows similar findings in most cases. In particular, when HyFoSy test results suggest your tubes are open, the accuracy of this reaches over 98% of the cases, which is really impressive for tests of this kind. On the other hand, when HyFoSY testing suggests one or both of your tubes may not be open, it is recommended to have a further check either by conventional HSG, or laparoscopy to confirm the initial findings, or otherwise.

In the modern set-up of fertility check-ups, HyFoSY is a reliable, accurate and safe method to provide valuable information about the state of your tubes. It is radiation-free, causes minimal discomfort, if any and provides additional information not only about the tubes, but also about the uterus itself and the ovaries. For women that have their initial fertility check-up, HyFoSy could be the first step towards getting useful information about the state of your tubes.

©2021, Nicholas Christoforidis, Fertility Matters
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