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Three-dimensional ultrasound in the diagnosis and the classification of congenital uterine anomalies using the ESHRE/ESGE classification: a diagnostic accuracy study

  • General Gynecology
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Abstract

Study objective

To estimate the diagnostic accuracy of three-dimensional ultrasonography (3D US) compared to hysteroscopy/laparoscopy, in the investigation of uterine congenital anomalies using the ESHRE/ESGE classification of female genital tract congenital anomalies.

Design

Prospective blind, comparative, cohort study.

Setting

University Tertiary Hospital and affiliated private Hospital.

Patients and methods

Sixty-two women consecutively referred with a suspected diagnosis of uterine congenital anomalies. The ESHRE/ESGE classification of congenital anomalies of the female genital tract was used for the description of abnormal findings.

Interventions

All patients underwent (1) 3D US and (2) hysteroscopy with laparoscopy to establish the final diagnosis.

Results

Concordance between 3D US and hysteroscopy with laparoscopy about the type and the classification of uterine anomaly was verified in 61 cases, including all those with septate uterus, dysmorphic uterus, bicorporeal, hemi-uterus or unicorporeal, and aplastic uterus and one out of two with normal uterus. For the diagnosis of septate uteri, which was the most common anomaly, the sensitivity of 3D US was 100%, the specificity was 92.3%, the PPV was 98% and the NPV was 100%, with kappa index 0.950. For bicorporeal, dysmorphic uterus, hemi-uteri or unicorporeal and aplastic uterus the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were all 100% with K = 1.00. Overall, 3D US showed perfect diagnostic accuracy (Kappa index = 0.945) in the detection of congenital uterine anomalies.

Conclusion

3D US appears to be a very accurate method for the diagnosis of congenital uterine anomalies.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

AK: Data collection, Manuscript writing, data analysis. TM: Manuscript writing—review and editing, protocol development. GFG: Protocol development, data collection, conceptualization, investigation, project administration, supervision. AK: Data collection, investigation. TDT: Data collection, investigation. AS: Protocol development, supervision. BCT: Supervision. APA: Protocol development, data collection, conceptualization, investigation, project administration, supervision, validation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Kougioumtsidou.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Kougioumtsidou, A., Mikos, T., Grimbizis, G.F. et al. Three-dimensional ultrasound in the diagnosis and the classification of congenital uterine anomalies using the ESHRE/ESGE classification: a diagnostic accuracy study. Arch Gynecol Obstet 299, 779–789 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-019-05050-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-019-05050-x

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