The nose knows tubal function?

摘要

If the PubMed database is searched using the keywords (English spelling) "in vitro fertilisation/fertilisation or IVF" in combination with "infertility" between 1953 and 1982 and between 1983 and 2012, 138 and 11,170 papers will be produced, respectively. In contrast, the keywords "fallopian tube/oviduct" and "function" in combination with "infertility" yield only 203 and 863 papers during the same years, respectively. Based on the increase in the number of papers for the 30 years after 1982 (11,000 vs. 660), one can conclude that great progress in one scientific field does not enhance but rather hampers progress in related fields. There is a similar analogy between the explosive development of intracytoplas-mic sperm injection technologies and the relative stagnation of basic and clinical research on natural fertilization. Despite these research and clinical trends, I believe that nobody doubts the importance and significance of the fallopian tube, not only in reproductive biology but also in reproductive medicine, including the diagnosis and treatment of infertility.