Radionuclide hysterosalpingography for evaluation of fallopian tube patency

A prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of radionuclide hysterosalpingography (RNHSG) using a technique with some modifications, that was described by Iturralde and Ventner (1). As these investigators demonstrated, technetium-labeled human albumin microspheres (HAM) will normally migrate spontaneously from the vagina to the ovaries. This study confirms that in the presence of fallopian tube obstruction, fibrosis and/or lack of motility, this migration does not take place, and that the presence or absence of migration of HAM can be imaged with a gamma camera. In the evaluation of 52 tubes we found that the efficiency of RNHSG for evaluation of fallopian tube patency when compared with contrast hysterosalpingography and/or direct observation of surgical pathology was over 94%. RNHSG is an essentially innocuous technique for assessing functional and mechanical fallopian tube obstruction that can be performed with conventional nuclear imaging equipment.