Salpingoscopic findings in women undergoing sterilization

We report the results of a prospective study carried out to investigate the appearance of the Fallopian tube lumen in 30 apparently normal women with a normal reproductive career, patient Fallopian tubes and a normal pelvic appearance at laparoscopy. The salpingoscopic appearance of the ampulla and fimbria of both Fallopian tubes was normal in 20 women. Amongst the other 10 women there were intratubal adhesions (n = 2), fronds attached to mucosal folds (n = 4), irregular blood vessels in mucosal folds (n = 2), unusual mucosal folds (n = 3) and black 'spots' within mucosal folds (n = 3). In three women who underwent salpingoscopy during the preovulatory phase of the ovarian cycle, the mucosal fold edges appeared rounded and contained blood vessels with brightly reflective walls. Our findings suggest that there is variation in the endoscopic appearance of the tubal lumen in women with a normal reproductive career. Some of these findings may be perceived to be tubal pathology causing subfertility.