Tubal abnormalities on hysterosalpingography in primary and secondary fertility

BACKGROUND: Hysterosalpingography (HSG) is an imaging modality used in assessing the fallopian tubes of patients with infertility. There have been reports suggesting that tubal pathologies may be responsible for most cases of secondary infertility. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the fallopian tube of women with infertility and to observe if there are significant differences in the tubal findings in primary and secondary infertility. METHODOLOGY: One hundred and twenty (120) patients attending the outpatient fertility clinics in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, (UITH) Nigeria were studied; Twenty-four (20%) presented with primary infertility and Ninety-six (80%) with secondary infertility. All the patients had HSG. RESULTS: A total of 48(40%) patients out of the 120 studied had a tubal pathology, out of which 43 (44.8%) had secondary infertility and 5(20.8%) had primary infertility. Tubal pathology was found to be significantly associated with secondary infertility than primary infertility (P< 0.05, Odds ratio = 3, CI = 95%).