Genital Tract Tuberculosis In Subfertile Women

Abstract

SUMMARY Between 1953 and 1968, 42 of 3384 women attending a subfertility clinic were found to have genital tract tuberculosis. The examination of endometrial biopsies by guinea-pig inoculation was the most reliable method of detecting tuberculous endometritis, and was more sensitive than histological and cultural methods. Sixteen of 31 patients would not have been identified without the use of animal inoculation. The tuberculin test was a useful preliminary for those patients who required a diagnostic endometrial examination. Patients with a history of primary tuberculosis in early adult life or of pneumonia complicated by pleurisy, effusion or empyema were significantly more likely to have genital tract tuberculosis than were women without such a history. The past and family histories, however, gave no clue to the diagnosis in nearly half of the patients with pelvic tuberculosis.