Infertility due to tubal obstruction with special reference to chlamydial and gonococcal infections

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted on 334 infertile women attending the out patient clinic of Kasr El-Aini Maternity Hospital. Out of them, 150 women with tubal cause of infertility were selected for laboratory investigations. Another 50 women attending the out patient clinic for contraception were taken as a control group. Serum and cervical mucus samples from both patients and control women were examined for the presence of antichlamydial IgG and IgA antibodies using the enzyme linked immunosorbant assay [ELISA] technique. Also, cervical mucus specimens from both patients and control women and peritoneal fluid samples from patients were cultured for Neisseria gonorrhoeae on modified New York City [MNYC] medium and chocolate agar. The study revealed 4 fold increase in the incidence of antichlamydial antibodies in tubal infertility women than in control group. It was found that serum IgG and IgA antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis were usually correlated to cervical mucus IgG and IgA respectively. Also, no significant statistical difference between the presence of serum IgG and cervical mucus IgA were found. Tubal obstruction due to tuberculous salpingitis represented 4% of the patients included in this study. Neisseria gonorrhoeae were isolated from cervical secretions of only one patient and one woman in the control group, and could not be isolated from all peritoneal fluid specimens