Table of Contents
FDA Consumer magazine
July-August 1999
Pelvic inflammatory disease is caused when the C. trachomatis bacteria move from the cervix (where they enter during sexual intercourse) to the uterus and fallopian tubes, in some cases scarring the tubes enough to make fertilization impossible.
"These women may never be able to have children," says Penny Hitchcock, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases, "unless the problem can be surgically corrected, which is uncommon and expensive."
Even if the fallopian tubes are not completely blocked, scarring can interfere with the passage of the fertilized egg into the uterus. A blocked egg may instead implant in the fallopian tube, creating an ectopic or tubal pregnancy, which endangers the mother's life and results in loss of the fetus.
--T.N.
Table of Contents | Return to Main Article
(Hypertext created by clb 1999-JUN-14. Graphic by Renée Gordon)