Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Urinary Incontinence During Pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can frequently be seen in pregnant women. Pregnancy and delivery have been considered as risk factors in the occurrence of pelvic floor dysfunction and determinants of LUTS. The main associated risk factor is parity. In the present study, we aim to determine the frequency of LUTS and urinary incontinence (UI) during pregnancy and the associated risk factors. METHODS: This prospective study was carried out in a total of 250 women during their 28- and 40-gestational week checks. The Urinary Distress Inventory-6, the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7, and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form were used to determine LUTS and its effect on quality of life. RESULTS: The mean age and gestational age of the participants were 29.41 ± 5.70 year (range 18-44) and 35.45 ± 2.98 weeks (range 28-40), respectively. The prevalence of LUTS was 81.6%. The prevalence of UI during pregnancy was 37.2%. Stress urinary incontinence, urge urinary incontinence and mixed urinary incontinence were diagnosed as 15.6, 4.8 and 16.8%, respectively. We found that advanced age, smoking and multiparity were risk factors associated with incontinence. Incontinence reduced pregnant women's quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Lower urinary tract symptoms are commonly seen among pregnant women and these symptoms negatively affect the quality of life of pregnant women. Advanced age, smoking and multiparity were risk factors associated with urinary incontinence and LUTS. Obstetricians should be on the lookout for individual urological problems in pregnancy. Resolving any urological issues and cessation of smoking for the affected individuals will help alleviate the problem.

The Effect of the Combined Use of Methylergonovine and Oxytocin during Caesarean Section in the Prevention of Post-partum Haemorrhage.

We aimed to show to patients the benefit of post-partum haemorrhage prophylaxis treatment and the effectiveness as a uterotonic agent of the combined use of methylergonovine and oxytocin infusion in the prevention of haemorrhage during and after Caesarean section, by comparison with a control group which received oxytocin infusion only. Two groups of patients undergoing Caesarean section at the same clinic were included in the study. A combination of methylergonovine and oxytocin was administered to the first group during the intra-operative and post-operative periods. The second group did not receive methylergonovine and was administered only with oxytocin infusion in the intra-operative and post-operative periods. Pre-operative and post-operative haemogram readings were taken for all patients in each of the groups for comparison. No difference was found between the two groups with regard to mean ages and pre-operative haemogram values. The decrease in post-operative haemoglobin values for the group administered with methylergonovine maleate and oxytocin was found to be significantly greater than for the group administered with oxytocin only. Results indicated that prophylactic methylergonovine treatment was clearly successful for the patients and no adverse side effects were found. The routine use of methylergonovine and oxytocin infusion in combination during the intra-operative period of Caesarean section reduced the level of post-partum haemorrhage considerably. We believe that this procedure will also reduce the risk of uterine atony, but clearly, prospective studies will be necessary in future to confirm this assumption.

Comparison of the effects of PMDD and pre-menstrual syndrome on mood disorders and quality of life: a cross-sectional study.

In this study, we compared psychiatric symptoms, quality of life and disability in patients with pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). Forty-nine women with PMDD were compared with 43 women with PMS. All participants were asked to complete a socio-demographic data collection form, a Brief Disability Questionnaire, a medical study short form-36 (SF-36) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) forms. The patients with PMDD had higher HAD-A and HAD-D scores than the patients in PMS group (p < 0.01). No statistically significant differences were found on brief disability between two groups (p > 0.05), but both groups had medium level of brief disability. The PMDD group had a lower SF-36 scoring than the PMS group in every compared parameters (p < 0.01). PMS and PMDD may lead to brief disability, and PMDD may cause loss of quality of life and psychological problems. The evaluation of patients with PMS and PMDD pre-menstrual disorders should be more detailed.

Is there a relationship between mood disorders and dysmenorrhea?

OBJECTIVE: Menstrual problems are common among adolescent females. Mood changes are related to menstrual problems (menorrhagia, dysmenorrhea, and abnormal menstrual cycle length). The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between depressive symptoms, anxiety, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) with dysmenorrhea in adolescent girls. METHODS: A total of 159 adolescent girls (aged 13-19 y) with regular menstrual cycles presenting to the gynecology clinic with any complaints were included in the study during April-May 2013. All of the participants filled up the sociodemographic data collection form, FACES Pain Rating Scale, Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), Beck depression inventory (BDI), and a questionnaire form on criteria for PMS. Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 67.9%. The mean BAI and BDI scores of the patients were 13.64 ± 12.81 and 11.88 ± 10.83, respectively. Statistically significant differences were observed between patients and control groups on the BAI and BDI scoring (P < .05). At least 1 of the symptoms of the PMS was detected in all of the participants and 29 (18.2%) of them were diagnosed as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). The mean BAI score of the patients with PMS and PMDD were 9.65 ± 9.28 and 21.31 ± 15.75, respectively. The mean BDI score of the patients with PMS and PMDD were 8.39 ± 8.62 and 19.1 ± 11.85, respectively. Statistically significant differences were observed between PMS/PMDD and BAI/BDI scoring (P = .00). CONCLUSION: Adolescent girls with dysmenorrhea have an increased risk of depression and anxiety. These results of our study are significant in emphasizing the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to primary dysmenorrhea follow-up and treatment.

Labial adhesion with acute urinary retention secondary to vaginitis.

Labial adhesion occurs most often in infants and girls and is usually associated with low estrogen levels. Labial adhesion in the reproductive age group is extremely rare due to abundance of estrogen. Herein we present a case of almost complete labial adhesion with acute urinary retention in a 21-year-old virgin woman secondary to a probable untreated severe vaginitis.

Hand and wrist complaints in pregnancy.

PURPOSE: Hand and wrist complaints can decrease the quality of life of pregnant women, which can occur or aggravate during pregnancy and advance to chronic state if left untreated. The purpose of this study was to describe hand and wrist complaints in relation to pregnancy and assess their significance in pregnancy. METHODS: In a prospective cross-sectional study, 383 participants were randomly selected from among pregnant women on or over 28 weeks of gestation, attending the primary care maternal health clinic in a university hospital. The prevalence and severity of hand and wrist complaints were assessed using the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ). The symptomatic pregnant women were consulted by an orthopedist. The specific diagnoses of the patients were made based on patient history and physical examination. RESULTS: According to BCTQ scoring 258 (67.4 %) pregnant women were symptomatic. The diagnoses were as follows: asymptomatic 125 (32.6 %), nonspecific symptoms 138 (36 %), tendinitis 80 (20.9 %), carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) 39 (10.2 %) and cubital syndrome 1 (0.3 %). There was no association noted between the diagnoses and numbers of pregnancies, occupational status, age, gestational weeks, weight gain or body mass index (BMI) (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hand and wrist complaints is high in pregnant women. All pregnant women should be investigated for hand and wrist complaints in routine antenatal checks to ensure good life quality during pregnancy and for avoiding these complaints advancing to chronic state. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of musculoskeletal systems disorders in pregnancy.

Which endometrial pathologies need intraoperative frozen sections?

BACKGROUND: Endometrial cancers are the most common gynecologic cancers. Endometrial sampling is a preferred procedure for diagnosis of the endometrial pathology. It is performed routinely in many clinics prior to surgery in order to exclude an endometrial malignancy. We aimed to investigate the accuracy of endometrial sampling in the diagnosis of endometrial pathologies and which findings need intra-operative frozen sections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred nine women applying to a university hospital and undergoing endometrial sampling and hysterectomy between 2010 and 2012 were included to this retrospective study. Data were retrieved from patient files and pathology archives. RESULTS: There was 17 patients with malignancy but endometrial sampling could detect this in only 10 of them. The endometrial sampling sensitivity and specificity of detecting cancer were 58.8% and 100%, with negative and positive predictive values of 97.6%, and 100%, respectively. In 7 patients, the endometrial sampling failed to detect malignancy; 4 of these patients had a preoperative diagnosis of complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia and 2 patients had a post-menopausal endometrial polyps and 1 with simple endometrial hyperplasia. CONCLUSIONS: There is an increased risk of malignancy in post-menopausal women especially with endometrial polyps and complex atypia hyperplasia. Endometrial sampling is a good choice for the diagnosis of endometrial pathologies. However, the diagnosis should be confirmed by frozen section in patients with post-menopausal endometrial polyps and complex atypia hyperplasia.

Appendix and uterus metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma arising from mature cystic teratoma of the ovary.

Mature cystic teratoma of the ovary rarely undergoes malignant transformation. There is no consensus for a treatment modality because of the rarity of the disease. Herein we present a case of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) arising in a mature cystic teratoma (MCT) in a 66-year-old patient. The patient underwent total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentectomy, appendectomy, and bilateral pelvic + paraaortic lymph node dissection. The histopathological examination revealed malignant invasion of the appendix and uterus. The patient, who refused the continuation of treatment initiated with the administration of a single dose of cisplatin, died 5 months later because of the disease. It is imperative that gynecologists consider appendectomy in SCC arising from MCT cases.