GYNECOLOGICAL EXAMINATION

procedures aimed at assessing the health of a woman's reproductive system. The general examination usually makes use of a speculum for a view of the vagina and cervix. More specialized procedures include the Pap smear (q.v.) for the detection of cancer of the cervix. In the diagnosis of possible infertility, useful procedures include the Rubin's test, which helps determine whether the fallopian tubes, the slender hollow structures through which the eggs travel from the ovaries to the uterus, are occluded; hysterosalpingography, or X ray of the uterus and fallopian tubes after injection of a contrast medium; the evaluation of ovulation and hormonal factors by the laboratory examination of cervical and uterine tissues and by the determination of blood and urine levels of estrogenic hormones.