Genital tuberculosis as a socially significant disease

Abstract

Globally, tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases after COVID-19. TB of the female genital organs is a type of extrapulmonary TB. Clinically pronounced and latent forms of TB can cause both primary and secondary infertility because of pathogenetic damage to the structure of the fallopian tubes and changes in the susceptibility of the uterine endometrium. Although the true prevalence of genital TB is unknown, it is still a very relevant problem in Russia. This assumption is based on the projected growth of indicators of extrapulmonary TB, an obvious discrepancy between the real incidence and the official figures, and increasing incidence of tubal–peritoneal infertility, which is often caused by genital TB. The diagnosis of TB of the female genital organs is challenging because it does not have specific (so-called “marker”) manifestations. Low diagnostics rates of extrapulmonary TB create a false sense of well-being, which does not reflect its true epidemiological picture. Thus, at present, an optimal diagnostic complex, which would hasten the diagnosis of genital TB in women and consequently prevent the occurrence of associated irreversible changes in the female reproductive system, must be developed. Scientific databases CyberLeninka, ELibrary, and PubMed were searched for relevant articles using the following keywords: “tuberculosis”, “genital tuberculosis”, “infertility and tuberculosis”. Articles published over the past 10 years were analyzed.