Developmental steps for radionuclide hysterosalpingography.

The active oviductal transportation capacity was studied in 73 infertile women by the use of a new deposition technique of radioactive particles into the internal cervical os. The main reason for this study was that a previous observation had shown that such a transportation capacity was lacking in 41% of the infertile patients with a normal hysterosalpingogram. The examination was performed in the immediate preovulatory phase, i.e. on days -3 to 0 before the ovulation, as measured by the basal body temperature during two preceding cycles. The deposition of 99mTc-labelled albumin particles of 0.2-1.0 micron at the internal cervical os and the interpretation of the radionuclide images are described in detail. The results show that the bilateral active tubal transportation capacity was present in 42 patients. An impaired transportation capacity was diagnosed in 22 patients. In 9 patients, the particles never reached the uterine cavity, or all activity leaked back to the vagina.