Assessment of tubal patency by transvaginal sonographic hydrotubation with color Doppler flow.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the value of transvaginal sonographic hydrotubation with color Doppler flow (TSH) as a test of tubal patency.


METHODS
Thirty-nine women undergoing infertility investigation at Chulalongkorn Hospital participated in this prospective, blind comparative study. Before diagnostic laparoscopy (DL) with chromopertubation, TSH was performed using the SSD 680, 5 MHz vaginal ultrasound probe and 20-50 ml of saline was injected into the uterine cavity.


RESULTS
Nine cases could not be evaluated properly. Of the 30 cases, there were complete agreements between TSH and DL in 24 (80%), partial agreement in 5 (16.67%) and non-agreement in 1 (3.33%). TSH had sensitivity 100%; specificity 84.62%, positive predictive value 50%, negative predictive value 100%, false positive rate 15.38%, but no false negative rate.


CONCLUSIONS
TSH is a simple diagnostic procedure for screening of tubal patency. However, other confirmatory test is needed if tubal occlusion is suspected.
Taechakraichana
N
N
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Wisawasukmongchol
W
W
Uerpairojkij
B
B
Suwajanakorn
S
S
Limpaphayom
K
K
Phaosawasdi
S
S
D005186:Fallopian Tube Patency Tests; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010535:Laparoscopy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography