Abstract
To examine the role of Chlamydia trachomatis infections of the cervix and abnormal postcoital tests (PCT) in a general infertility clinic, 63 consecutive patients undergoing a midcycle PCT during a routine infertility workup underwent endocervical curettage, and a 10-ml blood sample was obtained. The endocervical tissue was cultured for C. trachomatis; the serum sample was analyzed for chlamydial IgG and IgM antibodies using an indirect microimmunofluorescence assay. A negative titer was considered to be ≤ 1:8 dilution for IgG antibodies and ≤ 1:32 dilution for IgM antibodies. A good PCT was defined as ≥ 5 motile sperm per high power field (HPF). A poor PCT was defined as < 2 motile sperm/HPF, and a fair PCT was defined as 2 to 4 motile sperm/HPF. Of the 63 PCTs done, 27 (42.9%) were good, 14 (22.2%) were fair, and 22 (34.9%) were poor. All endocervical tissue cultures for C. trachomatis obtained during PCTs were negative. All IgM chlamydial antibody titers were negative (≤ 1:32 dilution), 55 (87.3%) of the patients having a zero titer. Eleven (17.5%) of the patients had negative IgG chlamydial antibody titers (≤ 1:8 dilution), none of the patients had a 1:16 dilution, and 52 (82.5%) had positive IgG chlamydial antibody titers (≥ 1:32 dilution). Thus, chlamydial infections of the endocervix are rare and not commonly associated with poor PCTs in this patient population.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 233-236 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Fertility and Sterility |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1984 |
Funding
Received February 24, 1984; revised and accepted April 16, 1984. *Presented in part at the Thirty-Ninth Annual Meeting of The American Fertility Society, April 16 to 20, 1983, San Francisco, California. tSupported in part by NICHD grant HD-00401 and an award from the University of Southern California Faculty Research and Innovation Fund. tLivingston Reproductive Biology Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles. §Department of Microbiology, University of California at San Francisco. IlReprint requests: M. Lynn Yonekura, M.D., Women's Hospital, Room 5K40, 1240 North Mission Road, Los Angeles, California 90033.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Reproductive Medicine