The incidence of intrauterine abnormalities found at hysteroscopy in patients undergoing elective hysteroscopic sterilization.

Hysteroscopic findings in 323 consecutive women requesting transcervical sterilization were analyzed. A remarkably low incidence of intrauterine abnormalities (13%) was found in this group of asymptomatic women as compared to that found in large series of women who experienced abnormal uterine bleeding or infertility. The dramatic difference in the incidence of abnormal hysteroscopic findings between these patient groups supports the concept of routinely performing hysteroscopy when evaluating women with infertility or abnormal uterine bleeding. It also sets a baseline for the prevalence of hysteroscopically demonstrable intrauterine pathology in an asymptomatic population.