Uterus transplantation (UTx) can provide a route to motherhood for women with Mayer–Rokitansky–Küster–Hauser syndrome (MRKHS), a congenital disorder characterized by uterovaginal aplasia, but with functional ovaries. Based on our four successful living-donor transplantations and two resulting births, this analysis presents parameters relevant to standardizing recipient/donor selection, UTx surgery, and postoperative treatment, and their implementation in routine settings. We descriptively analyzed prospectively collected observational data from our four uterus recipients, all with MRKHS, their living donors, and the two newborns born to two recipients, including 1-year postnatal follow-ups. Analysis included only living-donor/recipient pairs with completed donor/recipient surgery. Two recipients, both requiring ovarian restimulation under immunosuppression after missed pregnancy loss in one case and no pregnancy in the other, each delivered a healthy boy by cesarean section. We conclude that parameters crucial to successful transplantation, pregnancy, and childbirth include careful selection of donor/recipient pairs, donor organ quality, meticulous surgical technique, a multidisciplinary team approach, and comprehensive follow-up. Surgery duration and blood vessel selection await further optimization, as do the choice and duration of immunosuppression, which are crucial to timing the first embryo transfer. Data need to be collected in an international registry due to the low prevalence of MRKHS.
Pelvic floor sonography is currently the gold standard in gynecology for the morphological diagnosis of incontinence and of functional disorders of the pelvic floor. X-ray examinations and MRI of the pelvic floor are much less common nowadays, and these examinations are usually only done to investigate more complex issues which cannot be adequately evaluated with ultrasonography. Diagnostic ultrasonography should be done both perioperatively and after surgery for urinary incontinence or prolapse to evaluate complications. Sonography also provides useful biofeedback and can be used to assess the patientʼs progress after conservative treatment. A review of recent international literature shows that, in the majority of studies, morphological diagnoses are obtained with sonography. A number of different methods are used for investigation and evaluation, which can make it difficult to compare the findings of different studies. While in previous years introital sonography and perineal ultrasound were the preferred 2D imaging methods used for diagnosis, more recent studies have focused on the use of 3D imaging methods. The basic principle, which applies to both approaches, is that metric assessments are secondary to descriptive evaluations as an important constituent of urogynecological diagnostics. Both methods are useful, particularly to assess complications after surgery for urinary incontinence and prolapse procedures, and both procedures have an important role to play in understanding and managing complications.
Investigation TechniquesStandard diagnostics should include 2D imaging. The choice of where to insert the probe and whether to use 2D or 3D imaging depends on the availability of ultrasound units and probes. In principle, three different methods can be used for ultrasound investigation: 1. endosonographic applications: vaginal ultrasound, endo-anal sonography, 2. external applications: perineal/introital/abdominal ultrasound, 3. a combination of the two methods, as described by J. Kociszewski (Hagen) who refers to this approach as "pelvic floor sonography".Interdisciplinary S2k Guideline: Sonography in Urogynecology Short Version -AWMF Registry Number: 015/055Interdisziplinäre S2k-Leitlinie: Sonografie im Rahmen der urogynäkologischen DiagnostikKurzfassung -AWMF-Register-Nummer: 015/055
This RCT shows significant improvement in patients' quality of life for conservative therapy of SUI. Differences between the three therapeutic options analyzed could not be found. Additional ES showed no benefit for patients with SUI, capable of voluntary pelvic floor contraction.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.