American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
ResearchImagingThe uterine junctional zone: a 3-dimensional ultrasound study of patients with endometriosis
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
Eighty-two premenopausal patients who were scheduled for laparoscopy in 2 university units (Gynecology Department, Ospedale Generale S. Giovanni Calibita ‘Fatebenefratelli’ Italy and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Connecticut, New Britain, CT) from March 2010 to January 2012 were included in this prospective study.
Institutional review board approval for this study was obtained before study initiation in both University hospitals. Informed patient consent was not required
Results
The mean age (± SD) of all the 82 patients who were included in this study was 33.9 ± 4.6 years (range, 20–42 years); the mean parity was 0.54 ± 1.3 (median, 0; range, 0–4), and the mean gravidity was 0.83 ± 1.2 (median, 0; range, 0–5). Of all 82 patients, 59 women had pelvic endometriosis at laparoscopy and histologic evaluation; test results for 23 women did not show endometriosis.
We did not observe statistically significant differences in the mean age in the 2 groups that were considered in
Comment
The JZ, if altered, is correlated with adenomyosis and seems to be involved in the process that determines pelvic endometriosis.17, 19, 21, 29, 30, 31 The aim of our study was to evaluate the JZ ultrasound features in patients with endometriosis. We tried to detect a correlation between endometriosis and adenomyosis in the case of JZ modifications.
The present study showed, in patients with endometriosis, a significantly higher JZ thickening and higher percentage of alterations compared with
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2021, ClinicsCitation Excerpt :The 3D TVUS (Figure 3) evaluated the characteristics of the JZ. If it was found to be poorly defined, irregular, and interrupted and if its thickness was ≥8 mm or the difference between the maximum and minimum thickness was ≥4 mm (JZ Dif) (17), it was considered suggestive of adenomyosis. We considered focal and diffuse adenomyosis of the outer and inner myometrium separately and classified adenomyosis types according to TVUS features as assessed in the coronal plane.
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The authors report no conflict of interest.
Cite this article as: Exacoustos C, Luciano D, Corbett B, et al. The uterine junctional zone: a 3-dimensional ultrasound study of patients with endometriosis. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2013;209:248.e1-7.