The Hysteroscopy Encyclopedia

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Accordingly they can be divided into:

• contact and panoramic hysteroscopy.
• Flexible and rigid hysteroscopy.

Contact Hysteroscopy

    Contact hysteroscopy originally referred to hysteroscopy without uterine distension with a special contact hysteroscope (Baggish & Barbot, 1983). The intrauterine structures are examined in direct contact with the tissue.

    Some hysteroscopes primarily designed for panoramic hysteroscopy are equiped with a telescope that can also be used with magnification in contact mode.  The Storz contact microhysteroscope with magnification up to 150X, can be used to that purpose both for panoramic and contact hysteroscopy and is especially useful for examination of ecto and endocervix in cases with cervical dysplasia and endometrial dating studies. (Hamou,1981).

    When the distal end of the telescope is in contact with mucosa at a magnification of 60X, the glands of the endocervix and the endometrium can be observed with a depth of field of about 80um. At the highest magnification of 150X, detailed nucleocytoplasmic examination of one cell layer can be performed (Hamou,1986).

    In this technique, there is no need for a specific light source or distension medium. However, the principal disadvantage of this instrument is a decrease in the visual field preventing panoramic examination (Shapiro, 1988).

    Today contact hysteroscopy has almost completely abundaned in modern hystroscopy It is mainly used with magnification for experimental studies of endometrial vascular patterns and cellular structures mostly in combination with panoramic hysteroscopy.( Wamsteker & DeBlok,1995).