Congenital absence of fallopian tube and ovary

Absence of one or both uterine tubes and ovaries is a finding that has rarely been described. Two such cases are presented. In one the anatomical abnormalities were discovered during investigations for primary infertility, in the other the absence was discovered at the time of laparoscopic sterilisation. There are two possible aetiologies. The first involves an asymptomatic torsion of one or both adnexes during adult life or childhood, or even before birth. Alternatively, the absence may be congenital, due either to a defect in the development of the entire Müllerian and Mesonephric systems on one side, or to a defect localised to the region of the genital ridge and the caudal part of the Müllerian duct.