Highlights
- •A noninvasive measurement of vaginal atrophy is proposed.
- •Measurements of the total thickness of the vaginal wall directly correlate with estrogen decline.
- •This feasibility study is the first to use transabdominal ultrasound to measure total thickness of the vaginal wall and total thickness of the vaginal mucosa.
Abstract
Objective
As life expectancy increases, the number of women reporting adverse genito-urinary
symptoms (genitourinary syndrome of menopause; GSM) from menopause, including vaginal
dryness and sexual pain, also will increase. Current objective measurements of vaginal
atrophy such as maturation index require vaginal swabs and are invasive; at present,
no minimally invasive measurements exist. The purpose of this study was to assess
whether total vaginal wall thickness (TVT) and total vaginal mucosa thickness (TMT)
as measured by transabdominal ultrasound could qualify as additional objective markers
of vaginal wall thinning which could be related to menopausal status.
Design
Women presenting for pelvic ultrasound had a transabdominal ultrasound scan performed
to measure TVT and TMT at the level of the bladder trigone. In addition, a transvaginal
endometrial lining thickness was measured.
Results
The ultrasound measurement data from 76 participants showed that there was a significant
difference in the mean value for TVT and endometrial lining between pre- and post-menopausal
women. The same difference in mean was not observed for TMT.
Conclusion
TVT may be a reliable measure of vaginal thinning, which worsens with estrogen decline.
These preliminary data also suggest that TMT does not have the same correlation as
the TVT measurement. A larger sample is needed to further assess the usefulness and
sensitivity of these measures and whether there is clinical and/or research usefulness
in obtaining vaginal wall measurements by transabdominal ultrasound.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 20, 2017
Accepted:
February 27,
2017
Received in revised form:
February 16,
2017
Received:
November 27,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
