COMPARISON OF IN-VITRO FALLOPOSCOPY WITH TUBAL HISTOLOGY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF FALLOPIAN-TUBE PATHOLOGY

In order to assess the diagnostic quality of falloposcopy in relation to pathomorphology, a consecutive series of 30 Fallopian tubes obtaine d from surgical salpingectomy cases were prospectively examined by in- vitro falloposcopy and histology. Falloposcopy was performed using an over-the-wire catheterization system and a 0.5 mm falloposcope with 30 00 pixels. Assessment of the specimens included the description of lum en geometry, intraluminal changes and status of the mucosal surface, F alloposcopy classified 14 tubes as normal and 16 pathological, Histolo gical resulted in 17 normal versus 13 pathological tubes, Pathologies included lumen obstructions and dilatations, intraluminal synechiae an d mucosal damage, Sensitivity and specificity of falloposcopy were cal culated to be 0.85 and 0.71; positive and negative predictive values w ere 0.69 and 0.86. It was concluded that falloposcopic findings indeed reflect and successfully differentiate normal and pathological condit ions allowing adequate and reproducible image interpretation, However variations of the diagnostic accuracy with the type of pathology and t he tubal segment have to be taken into account before clinical consequ ences are drawn from a falloposcopic investigation.