Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Clinical Review

Management of infertility

BMJ 2007; 335 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39324.662049.80 (Published 20 September 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;335:608

Rapid Response:

Unexplained infertility: Think of Undiagnosed Celiac disease

In their Clinical Review "Management of infertility", Balen AH et al do not mention celiac disease as a possible underlying cause of unexplained infertility. Several studies have shown a higher prevalence of celiac disease among infertile women (4% to 8%) compared with the general population (<1%).

Gluten-free diet could be the only treatment needed in some women with unexplained infertility. Thus, all women with unexplained infertility should be screened for celiac disease before subjecting them to expensive and more invasive tests and interventions.

References:

1. Jackson JE, Rosen M, McLean T, Moro J, Croughan M, Cedars

MI.

Prevalence of celiac disease in a cohort of women with

unexplained infertility.

Fertil Steril. 2007 Jul 25

2. Pellicano R, Astegiano M, Bruno M, Fagoonee S, Rizzetto

M.

Women and celiac disease: association with unexplained

infertility.

Minerva Med. 2007 Jun;98(3):217-9

Competing interests: None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

23 September 2007
Shirwan A. Mirza, MD, FACP, FACE
Chairman: Department of Medicine
Auburn Memorial Hospital, Auburn, NY 13021