Root Cause Diagnosis

Root cause diagnosis is the core RRM principle that a reproductive health problem points to a cause that a clinician can identify.¹ Painful periods, heavy bleeding, and infertility are signs of an underlying problem. They are not the whole diagnosis. The cause may be a hormone disorder, a blocked fallopian tube, or a change in the shape of the uterus. It may be pelvic inflammation, an immune disorder, or a disorder of metabolism, the way the body handles food and energy. It can also follow past surgery, such as a C-section scar defect. In men, the cause may be a varicocele or damage to the DNA inside sperm. Both partners undergo evaluation from the start. For the man, evaluation begins with a semen analysis. A clinician may add a sperm DNA test later, when the history or the first results point that way. RRM does not accept "unexplained infertility" as a final answer. That label almost always means that no one has looked hard enough.²