Untreated Prior Pulmonary Tuberculosis Adversely Affects Pregnancy Outcomes in Infertile Women Undergoing <i>in vitro</i> Fertilization and Embryo Transfer: A Large Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective Prior pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) on chest X-ray (CXR) was commonly found in infertile patients receiving examinations before in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). It was unclear whether untreated PTB would affect pregnancy outcomes after IVF-ET. Method We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 14,254 infertile patients who had received IVF-ET at Peking University Third Hospital in 2017. Prior PTB was defined as the presence of signs suggestive of old or inactive PTB on CXR, with or without a clinical TB history. Patients who had prior PTB on CXR but had not received a clinical diagnosis and anti-TB therapy were included for analysis. Live birth, clinical pregnancy, and miscarriage rates were compared between the untreated PTB and non-PTB groups. Results The untreated PTB group had significantly lower clinical pregnancy (31.7% vs . 38.1%) and live birth (23.8% vs . 30.6%) rates than the non-PTB group (both P OR ), 0.80; 95% confidence interval ( CI ), 0.66-0.98; P = 0.028] in all patients and for increased miscarriage ( OR , 4.19; 95% CI , 1.69-10.39; P = 0.002) and decreased live birth ( OR , 0.45; 95% CI , 0.24-0.83; P = 0.011) rates in patients with unexplained infertility. Conclusions Untreated PTB was associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes after IVF-ET, especially in patients with unexplained infertility, highlighting the clinical significance of PTB in this specific patient population.