Genital tuberculosis: a clinical and pathological study of uterine and adnexal tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis of the female genital tract is not common but it must not be regarded as being of extreme rarity. Moreover, when cases do occur, they are of considerable importance, from the diagnostic problems which they present and from the point of view of treatment.The Continental literature contains numerous original accounts dealing with this condition. More recently, a considerable amount has been written in America, In this country, however, it has received comparatively little attention. One or two reviews have been published and certain aspects of tuberculosis in this situation have been fully dealt with but no account of the disease, based upon a series of cases, appears to have been published.My purpose in this thesis is to make a comprehensive survey of certain forms of genital tuberculosis in the female. This will be based as far as possible on the information obtained from the study of a serie of 69 cases. Lesions of the vagina and the vulva wer not represented in the cases and these forms will not be dealt with. Otherwise, all aspects of tubercu loslis of the uterus and adnexa will be considered. The routes of infection, the pathology, the symptoms and signs, the obstacles to diagnosis, the question of treatment and the end results of treatment will be described and discussed.