title: Hystero-salpingo scintigraphy: a routine investigation in sterile women?
abstract: Based on the spontaneous migration of radioactive tracer from the posterior vaginal fornix to the ovaries and peritoneal cavity, several attempts were made to assess hystero-salpingo scintigraphy (HSS). The low acceptance rate by sterile women of routine investigation of tubal function may be due to a fear of radiation exposure and unpleasant examination procedures. Our protocol for HSS adopts a low dose of radioactive tracer (0.2-0.3 mCi), a defined mode of application (between the external and internal os of the cervical canal) and a short imaging time (60 min). From 1990 to 1992, we investigated 60 fallopian tubes in 32 sterile women by HSS, hystero-salpingography (HSG) and/or chromopertubation during laparoscopy (LPSC). The results of HSG and HSS corresponded in 15 of 49 fallopian tubes, LPSC and HSS in 9 of 24. None of the 32 patients had become pregnant naturally during the average observation period of 17 months. Two patients became pregnant after in-vitro fertilization. HSS, performed according to our protocol, causes less pain and results in a lower dose of radiation than HSG (about 50%). It is well accepted by patients and is easy to perform. As an investigation of tubal function, HSS may serve as an additional examination technique in cases of presumed tubal sterility.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barrada
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Buxbaum
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schatten
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pateisky
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seiffert
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Strohmer
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vytiska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005184:Fallopian Tube Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007047:Hysterosalpingography; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013667:Technetium
chemical_list: D013667:Technetium