The role of 3.0 T MR hysterosalpingography work-up in the diagnosis of female infertility

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the role of 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance hysterosalpingography (MR-HSG) work-up in the diagnosis of female infertility. Methods Between July 2015 and December 2018, a total of 1 052 infertile women aged from 20 to 40 years in the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine were prospectively enrolled in the study. All the patients underwent pelvic plain scanning and X-ray hysterosalpingography (HSG) followed by MR-HSG examination, and the patency of the fallopian tubes as well as the abnormalities of the uterus and ovaries were evaluated. Among which 33 cases were randomly selected. The chi-square test and Kappa test were used to compare the difference and the consistency of the two methods in the evaluation of fallopian tubes. Results MR-HSG and HSG had good consistency in evaluating tubal patency (Kappa=0.88, P<0.01), and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=0.65). The examination of MR-HSG was successfully completed in 97.1%(1 021/1 052) cases. There were 81.7% (834/1 021) cases had at least one abnormality. Bilateral tubal, uterine and ovarian abnormalitiesoccurred in 42.6% (435/1 021), 34.2% (349/1 021)and 46.8% (478/1 021) cases, respectively. In which tubal abnormalities display the results as follows: bilateral obstructed 4.7% (48/1 021), bilateral poor pass 8.5% (87/1 021), one smooth one obstructed11.7% (119/1 021), one smooth one poor pass 12.6% (129/1 021), and one poor pass one obstructed 5.1% (52/1 021). Conclusion 3.0 T MR-HSG is expected to be a routineexam for evaluating female infertility, which allows a comprehensive assessment of tubal patency and other pelvic abnormalities of infertile women. Key words: Female infertility; Fallopian tube; Magnetic resonance imaging; Hysterosalpingography