Reproductive Outcome in Women with different Types of Congenital Uterine Anomalies

Abstract

Introduction: Mullerian ducts are the primordial analogue of female genital tract. They differentiate to form the fallopian tubes, uterine body, cervix and upper part of the vagina. A wide variety of malformation occur when this system is disrupted. The range from uterine agenesis, duplication of uterus to minor cavity abnormalities. All these congenital anomalies have been implicated as a potential cause for impaired reproductive outcome. Our aim was to evaluate the association between different types of congenital anomaly and various reproductive outcome. Material & Methods: This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted at the Department of gynae and obstetrics in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Ad-din Women’s Medical College and Hospital and Gonoshasthaya Samaj Vittik Medical College and Hospital during the period of March 2012 to September 2022.The study subjects were women with uterine anomalies who were diagnosed during evaluation of causes for bad obstetric history, during infertility work up or incidental findings during antenatal investigations or during Carsarian section . Reproductive outcomes were observed in the form of infertility, miscarriage, preterm delivery, ectopic pregnancy, intra uterine growth retardation (IUGR) and post-partum haemorrhage (PPH). These were recorded in a standard research questionnaire. Data were analyzed regarding types of uterine anomalies and their reproductive performance. Results: During the study period total 84 patients were recruited with uterine anomalies. Regarding distributions of uterine anomalies in study subjects the most common uterine anomaly was bicornuate uterus (n-32,38%), followed by arcuate uterus (n-18,21%), septate uterus (n-16,19%), unicornuate uterus (n-12,14%), and uterine didelphys (n-6,7. 1%).Women with bicornuate uterus was associated with miscarriage (37.25%), term delivery (31.25%) and preterm delivery (25%). Therefore, bicornuate uterus was found more evident with miscarriage. Only two cases of ectopic pregnancy were observed in the study which was found with bicornuate uterus. And in arcuate uterus percentage of preterm delivery was 44.4%, term delivery 33.3%, miscarriage only 22.2%. Therefore, arcuate uterus was more associated with preterm delivery. In septate uterus miscarriage was maximum (37.5%) followed byl term and pre term delivery, 12.5% each We found 12 cases of unicornuateuterus, where pregnancy continued to term in 6(50%) cases,2 aborted and 4(33.3)were delivered before term. Infertility was more associated with canalization defect, 6 cases with septate and 2 with didelphys uterus. Among live births (preterm and term deliveries,) malpresentation (breech, transverse) was more common in bicornuate uterus (44%).PPh was found in 2 cases of didelphys and two of bicornuate uterus. One case of septate and one from bicornuate uterus were associated with IUGR. Conclusion: The study makes clear that congenital uterine anomaly is associated with poor reproductive outcome. The exact effect is dependent on the type of anomaly.