AIM: To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with 
Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome.
METHODS: The clinical courses of patients that visited St. Mary's Hospital with 
abdominal pain from January 2005 to December 2006 and were diagnosed with 
Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome were examined.
RESULTS: Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome was identified in 22 female patients of 
childbearing age; their mean age was 31.0+/-8.1 years. Fourteen of these cases 
presented with pain in the upper right abdomen alone or together with pain in 
the lower abdomen, and six patients presented with pain only in the lower 
abdomen. The first impression at the time of visit was acute cholecystitis or 
cholangitis in 10 patients and acute appendicitis or pelvic inflammatory disease 
in eight patients. Twenty-one patients were diagnosed by abdominal computer 
tomography (CT), and the results of abdominal sonography were normal for 10 of 
these patients. Chlamydia trichomatis was isolated from 18 patients. Two 
patients underwent laparoscopic adhesiotomy and 20 patients were completely 
cured by antibiotic treatment.
CONCLUSION: For women of childbearing age with acute pain in the upper right 
abdomen alone or together with pain in the lower abdomen, Fitz-Hugh-Curtis 
syndrome should be considered during differential diagnosis. Moreover, in cases 
suspected to be Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, abdominal CT, rather than abdominal 
sonography, assists in the diagnosis.