Hysterosalpingographic Appearances of Female Genital Tract Tuberculosis: Part I. Fallopian Tube

Abstract

Female genital tuberculosis (TB) remains as a major cause of tubal obstruction leading to infertility, especially in developing countries. The global prevalence of genital tuberculosis has increased during the past two decades due to increasing acquired\nimmunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Genital TB is commonly asymptomatic, and\nit is diagnosed during infertility investigations. Despite of recent advances in imaging tools, such as computerized tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasongraphy, hysterosalpingography is still the standard screening\ntest for evaluation of tubal infertility and a valuable tool for diagnosis of female\ngenital tuberculosis. Tuberculosis gives rise to various appearances on hysterosalpingography (HSG) from non-specific changes to specific findings. The present pictorial\nreview illustrates and describes specific and non-specific radiographic features of female\ngenital tuberculosis in two parts. Part I presents specific findings of tuberculosis related\nto tubes such as "beaded tube", "golf club tube", "pipestem tube", "cobble stone tube"\nand "leopard skin tube". Part II describes adverse effects of tuberculosis on structure of\nendometrium and radiological specific findings such as "dwarfed" uterus with lymphatic\nintravasation and occluded tubes, "T-shaped" tuberculosis uterus, "pseudounicornuate"\nuterus and "Collar-stud abscess", which have not been encountered in the majority of\nnon-tuberculosis cases.