[Hysterosalpingographic aspects of ovarian and peritoneal endometriosis. Case-control study]

A clustering of radiologic signs is associated with the presence of ovarian and/or peritoneal endometriosis: some indicate fibrosis of utero-sacral ligaments (isthmic dissection of the uterus, fixed retroversion); others are linked to pathology of the tube (ampullar retention of dye after evacuation, sometimes inducing false aspects of hydrosalpinx); the last ones suggesting peritoneal adhesions (incomplete peritoneal diffusion). All these signs have been systematically studied, independently of the diagnosis, on 154 hysterosalpingograms of infertile patients known to have patent tubes at laparoscopy: in 107 out of these cases endometriosis was diagnosed at laparoscopy; the 47 last cases constituted the control group. The results confirm that all the signs described are significantly more frequent in cases of endometriosis, although non-specific for this condition. On the contrary, neither adenomyosis, tubal diverticulosis, nor intramural polyps are significantly linked to external endometriosis. In conclusion, some radiologic signs suggest the presence of peritoneo-ovarian endometriosis. Their detection is possible only on high quality pictures, including a last one taken after 10 to 20 minutes walking, to feature the anomalies of tubal evacuation and peritoneal diffusion. The clustering of these signs allows the clinician to propose an early laparoscopy in the work-up of an infertility case. Furthermore, some of these salpingograms provide evidence of a functional disorder of tubal motility in endometriosis, possibly responsible for the low fertility associated with the disease.