Endometritis caused by Chlamydia trachomatis.

Abstract

C. trachomatis was found to be the etiological agent of endometritis in 3 women with concomitant signs of salpingitis. All patients developed a significant antibody response to the organism. Chlamydia were recovered from the aspirated uterine contents of 2 patients; darkfield examination of histological sections showed chlamydial inclusions in endometrial cells in 1 patient. Thus, C. trachomatis can be recovered from the endometrium of patients in whom the cervical culture result is negative. In 1 patient, curettage showed endometritis with a characteristic plasma-cell infiltration. The occurrence of chlamydial endometritis may explain why irregular bleeding is a common finding in patients with salpingitis. It also suggests a canalicular spread of chlamydia from the cervix to the Fallopian tubes.