Secondary infertility and retained fetal bone fragments.

BACKGROUND

Retained fetal bone fragments may be an underreported and underappreciated cause of secondary infertility among women with an antecedent spontaneous or induced abortion.

CASES: Three patients with a history of an antecedent induced abortion presented with secondary infertility. The infertility evaluation diagnosed retained intrauterine fetal bone fragments. After removal of the bone fragments, two of the three patients successfully conceived.

CONCLUSION

Secondary infertility may be the only presenting symptom for women with retained fetal bone fragments. Women with secondary infertility and antecedent spontaneous or induced abortion may benefit from uterine evaluation with ultrasonography before initiating infertility treatment. For patients with findings of focal echogenic shadowing lesions at ultrasonography, we recommend ultrasonography-guided hysteroscopy to ensure that bone fragments embedded within the myometrium are not missed and are completely resected.