Diagnostic evaluation of hysterosalpingography in tubal infertility

Objective To evaluate hysterosalpingography (HSG) in tubal infertility. Methods 134 infertile women underwent hysterosalpingography before diagnostic laparoscopy to determine tubal patency. The results of HSG were compared with those of diagnostic laparoscopy, which was the gold standard of diagosis. Results The accuracy of HSG for determing tubal patency was significantly lower compared with that of diagnostic laparoscopy (κ = 0.206,P 0.05), of which, the accordance rate of ‘incomplete patency’ was the lowest (21%). The accuracy of HSG for detecting the occlusion sites of the tubes was not significantly different compared with that of laparoscopy (P = 0.109). In diagnosing pelvic disorders, the highest diagnostic accordance rate was 77.8% for hydrosalpinx. Conclusions HSG has limitations in diagnosing tubal patency. The value of HSG for diagnosing other pelvic disorders, such as endometriosis,is lower than that of laparoscopy.