Incidence of Chlamydia trachomatis in peripartum fallopian tubes

We investigated the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis in fallopian tubes of patients undergoing Pomeroy tubal ligation in the immediate postpartum period with culture on cycloheximide-pretreated McCoy cells and with immunofluorescence staining. Two of 20 women were culture positive in both tubes, representing 10% culture positivity. Both patients were multiparous and black and reported no previous history of either pelvic inflammatory or sexually transmitted disease. Neither developed intrapartum or postpartum fever or any other signs of infection. These findings indicate that C trachomatis can be present in tubes of symptom-free pregnant women and not cause infectious morbidity either prepartum, intrapartum or postpartum.