Pelvic inflammatory disease and involuntary infertility: prospective pilot observations. Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol

University of Pittsburgh, Objective: We prospectively evaluated the rate of adverse reproductive outcomes following pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in a small cohort of American women. Methods: We enrolled 28 patients having either salpingitis confirmed by laparoscopy or endometritis confirmed by endometrial biopsy. The follow-up was maintained by clinic visits and telephone contact. Results: A median of 15.4 months of follow-up was accomplished for 82.1 % of these women. Fifty-two percent (13/25) had unprotected sexual activity without conception for at least 6 months. Fully 55.6 % (10/18) of the cohort were involuntarily infertile after at least I year of follow-up. Conclusion: In the first prospective cohort study of the reproductive outcomes of American women having had PID, high rates of infertility at 1 year of follow-up were experienced by these women. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc. KEY WORDS Salpingitis, endometritis, upper-genital-tract infection