Pregnancy outcomes in patients with uterine junctional zone thickening

Abstract

Hypothesis/aims of study. Overcoming infertility and miscarriage in adenomyosis is a complex practical problem in obstetrics and gynecology. It is likely that one of the signs of the disease is a thickening of the transitional zone between the endometrium and the myometrium (J-zone), which can be visualized using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The data on the influence of the biometric characteristics of the J-zone on the course and outcome of pregnancy in patients with adenomyosis is ambiguous. This study was aimed to assess the effect of J-zone thickness on pregnancy outcomes in patients with adenomyosis.
 Study design, materials and methods. This is a prospective study, which included 102 patients aged 22-39 years with ultrasound signs of adenomyosis who were going to conceive. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 (n = 58) consisted of nulliparous patients with no history of previous intrauterine interventions; Group 2 (n = 58) comprised multiparous women with any of those, such as curettage of the uterine cavity for a non-developing or unwanted pregnancy and separate diagnostic curettage for a reason not related to pregnancy. Using MRI, J-zone maximum thickness was measured at the thickest part. We evaluated the relationship between J-zone thickness and pregnancy outcomes, while estimating J-zone thresholds for subfertility outcomes in the both groups.
 Results. The average value of J-zone maximum thickness in Group 2 was significantly higher than that in Group 1 and amounted to 12.1 4.2 mm and 10.3 3.9 mm, respectively (p 0.05). The pregnancy rate in the both groups did not differ significantly and amounted to 43.1% in Group 1 and 38.6% in Group 2 (p 0.05). The frequency of retrochorial hematoma was diagnosed in 13.8% and 22.7% of cases, respectively, and did not differ significantly in the both groups (p 0.05). The frequency of spontaneous miscarriage in Group 1 and Group 2 did not differ, either (6.9% and 6.8%, p 0.05). The J-zone thresholds for unfavorable pregnancy outcomes were determined with a probability of 60% in Group 1 (9.1 mm) and Group 2 (10.0 mm).
 Conclusion. J-zone thickness may be used as a prognostic marker of pregnancy outcome in patients with adenomyosis.