Therapeutic effect of hysterosalpingography: oil- versus water-soluble contrast media--a randomized prospective study

In a prospective randomized study, the number of pregnancies after hysterosalpingography (HSG) was estimated in 398 patients who had been infertile for longer than 1 year. Iohexol was used in 101 patients, ioxaglate in 102 patients, diatrizoate meglumine in 97 patients, and ethiodized poppy-seed oil in 98 patients. Ten months after HSG, the patient, referring physician, and/or hospital department was consulted for information about pregnancies. Questionnaires were obtained from the patients who became pregnant during the waiting period of 3 months. No differences in demographic parameters, infertility status, or diagnosis made with HSG were detected among the four contrast media groups. Significantly more patients became pregnant after HSG in the ethiodized poppy-seed oil group than in the three water-soluble contrast media groups (P less than .01). When only intrauterine pregnancies resulting in full-term births were considered, significant differences in pregnancy rates between the oil-soluble and the water-soluble contrast media groups became more obvious. In the group that received ethiodized poppy-seed oil, almost one-third of the infertile women had normal pregnancies and childbirths after HSG.