Reproductive outcome after tubal reversal in women 40 years of age or older.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the reproductive outcome of women who received a microsurgical tubal anastomosis operation at age 40 years or older. DESIGN: Multicenter retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Four university teaching hospitals. PATIENTS: Fifty-two women having undergone tubal sterilization reversal at age > or = 40 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pregnancy and live birth rate. RESULTS: Of the 52 women, 10 were lost to follow-up. Of those traced, 18 of 42 (42.8 percent) conceived. Of those 18, 6 patients had a live birth, 10 patients had a first trimester spontaneous abortion, 1 patient had an ectopic pregnancy, and 1 patient had an elective termination. Overall, the live birth rate was 14.3 percent, spontaneous abortion rate was 23.8 percent, and ectopic pregnancy rate was 2.4 percent. CONCLUSIONS: Microsurgical tubal anastomosis is a justifiable alternative to IVF-ET in women age 40 years or older.