Imaging findings in infertile female patients who underwent hysterosalpingography investigation at Muhimbili National Hospital

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Fallopian tube and uterine defects are responsible for infertility in more than 30% of infertile couples. Hysterosalpingography (HSG) is a safe and less invasive method of detecting both the tubal and uterine defects. Objectives To describe hysterosalpingography (HSG) imaging findings in infertile female patients investigated at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH)/Radiology department from July to December,2010 Material and methods This descriptive cross-sectional study, involved 130 women participants with infertility who attended MNH Radiology department for HSG examination between July to December 2010. Demographic data and radiological findings were reviewed and the obtained data analysed with SPSS version 15. Statistical level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The participants mean age was 30 years and mean duration for infertility was 5 years. Secondary infertility was slightly commoner than primary infertility. Majority (70%) of patients were aged 16-30 years. Abnormal findings at HSG were found in 60% of the patients. Most of these abnormal findings were found in those patients with older age between 31 and 45 years and those with long duration of infertility for more than 5 years. The commonest finding was tubal blockage accounting 41% of cases and the least was uterine congenital abnormality (3.8%). Uterine fibroid was the commonest uterine pathology accounting for 10% of all cases. Conclusion Generally, high proportion of patients in this study showed presence of uterine and fallopian tubes pathology. Fallopian tubal blockage was the most diagnosed tubal structural abnormality while the uterine leiomyoma was the highest uterine pathology. There was no vi significant difference in the presence of pathology between patients with primary and secondary infertility. However, older age above 30 years were significantly associated with presence of structural abnormality in both uterus and fallopian tubes Recommendation HSG is recommended for initial routine work-up of infertile women. Further studies are needed to establish the aetiologies of these abnormalities.