Tubal tuberculosis causes female infertility

Tubal tuberculosis can also lead to female infertility. Tubal tuberculosis is the most common type of female genital tuberculosis. Tubal tuberculosis is present in 90-100% of patients with female genital tuberculosis, and most of them are bilateral. Most of the lesions begin in the distal or middle part of the tube. The clinical presentation, like all female genital tuberculosis, is nonspecific, and infertility is often the only symptom of the disease in married women. More than half of the patients present with menstrual disorders, and about 10% present with lower abdominal pain, distension, or a palpable mass in the lower abdomen. The local pathologic changes of tubal tuberculosis are as follows: (1) Tuberculosis of the fallopian tube: there is no obvious abnormality on the appearance, and after cutting the fallopian tube, sometimes it can be found that there are small nodules on the mucosa. (2) Exudative tubal tuberculosis: the tubes are enlarged by a large amount of lysate, and the walls become pale. A large amount of caseous necrotic material often coexists in the tubal lumen. If combined with secondary infection, tubal abscess can be formed. (3) Proliferative tubal tuberculosis: due to the proliferation of fibrous tissue, the wall of the fallopian tube is thickened, curved or nodular. The swollen and thickened parts are spaced apart from each other, often making the fallopian tube bead-like. The opening at the umbilical end of the fallopian tube may be closed due to adhesions, or there may be irregular narrowing or diverticulum formation in the lumen of the tube. Firm adhesions are often formed between the fallopian tube and its surrounding tissues. Further development of tubal tuberculosis can cause endometrial tuberculosis, ovarian tuberculosis and cervical tuberculosis, especially the endometrium at the uterine horn is the most vulnerable. If complicated by pelvic peritoneal tuberculosis, there may be scattered nodular lesions on the plasma membrane of the uterus. Clinically, since endometrial specimens are relatively easy to obtain, pathologic examination of the endometrium and uterine tubal iodine-oil angiography are often helpful in determining the diagnosis of tubal tuberculosis.