TRANSVAGINAL SALPINGOSONOGRAPHY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF TUBAL PATENCY IN INFERTILE WOMEN - METHODOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL-EXPERIENCES

Objective: To evaluate the advantages and accuracy of transvaginal sal pingosonography in the assessment of tubal patency with regards to lap aroscopic chromopertubation. Setting: Infertility policlinic of the ho spital. Design: Thirty-one women suffering from infertility were exami ned with transvaginal salpingosonography using air and saline as a con trast medium. The results were compared with those obtained with lapar oscopic chromopertubation. Results: Altogether 61 fallopian tubes were examined with both transvaginal salpingosonography and laparoscopic c hromopertubation. Concordance was 85%. Of the tubes investigated by tr ansvaginal salpingosonography, 45 were found to be patent and 16 were found to be occluded. In chromopertubation, 50 of 61 tubes were patent and 11 were occluded. Bilateral tubal patency was found by transvagin al salpingosonography in 17 cases and by laparoscopy in 22 cases. Unil ateral tubal patency was found in 11 and 6 cases, respectively. Bilate ral occlusion was found in three cases using either technique. Conclus ion: Transvaginal salpingosonography with the combination of air and s aline is a low-cost, reliable, safe, and comfortable examination metho d. It can be used for the primary investigation of infertility on an o utpatient basis.