Is the sonographically visible hydrosalpinx a new clinical entity and is it suitable for functional surgery?
The latter question cannot be answered by a simple yes or no, since ultrasound is not yet a method used to evaluate the tubal mucosa. Transvaginal sonography using contrast agents is the main method used to detect tubal obstruction, but attempts have been made to evaluate distortion of the tube and the presence of pelvic adhesion (Hamilton et al., 1998). However, an endoscopic method with the possibility of direct inspection will probably always be superior to any indirect method, e.g. hysterosalpingography (HSG) or ultrasound, in terms of correct evaluation. Puttemans et al. (2000) state that it was unfortunate that we did not correlate the sonographic findings with a systematic pathological study of the resected tubes. However, the aim of our study was to examine whether patients with hydrosalpinx would benefit from salpingectomy before IVF and not to establish the most appropriate treatment modality for patients with hydrosalpinx or to evaluate ultrasound as a method for selection o
