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American Journal of Physical... Sep 2020Obstetric demands have long been considered in the evolution of the pelvis, yet consideration of the interaction of pregnancy, the pelvis, and the gastrointestinal tract...
OBJECTIVES
Obstetric demands have long been considered in the evolution of the pelvis, yet consideration of the interaction of pregnancy, the pelvis, and the gastrointestinal tract (gut) is lacking. Here, we explore sex differences in the relationship of gut volume with body size and pelvic dimensions.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Computed tomography (CT) scans of living adult Homo sapiens (46 females and 42 males) were obtained to measure in vivo gut volume (GV) and to extract 3D models of the pelvis. We collected 19 3D landmarks from each pelvis model to acquire pelvic measurements. We used ordinary least squares regression to explore relationships between GV and body weight, stature, and linear pelvic dimensions.
RESULTS
The gut-pelvis relationship differs between males and females. Females do not exhibit significant statistical correlations between GV and any variable tested. GV correlates with body size and pelvic outlet size in males. GV scales with negative allometry relative to body weight, stature, maximum bi-iliac breadth, inferior transverse outlet breadth, and bispinous distance in males.
DISCUSSION
The lack of association between GV and body size in females may be due to limits imposed by the anticipation of accommodating a gravid uterus and/or the increased plasticity of the pelvis. The pattern of relationship between GV and the pelvic outlet suggests the role of the bony pelvis in supporting the adominal viscera in females may be small relative to its role in childbirth. We conclude that gut size inference in fossil hominins from skeletal proxies is limited and confounded by sexual dimorphism.
Topics: Adult; Anatomic Landmarks; Anthropology, Physical; Anthropometry; Female; Gastrointestinal Tract; Humans; Male; Pelvis; Pregnancy; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 32519366
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24084 -
Journal of Neuroimaging : Official... 2015The lumbosacral plexus is a complex anatomic area that serves as the conduit of innervation and sensory information to and from the lower extremities. It is formed by... (Review)
Review
The lumbosacral plexus is a complex anatomic area that serves as the conduit of innervation and sensory information to and from the lower extremities. It is formed by the ventral rami of the lumbar and sacral spine which then combine into larger nerves serving the pelvis and lower extremities. It can be a source of severe disability and morbidity for patients when afflicted with pathology. Patients may experience motor weakness, sensory loss, and/or debilitating pain. Primary neurologic processes can affect the lumbosacral plexus in both genetic and acquired conditions and typically affect the plexus and nerves symmetrically. Additionally, its unique relationship to the pelvic musculature and viscera render it vulnerable to trauma, infection, and malignancy. Such conditions are typically proceeded by a known history of trauma or established pelvic malignancy or infection. Magnetic resonance imaging is an invaluable tool for evaluation of the lumbosacral plexus due to its anatomic detail and sensitivity to pathologic changes. It can identify the cause for disability, indicate prognosis for improvement, and be a tool for delivery of interventions. Knowledge of proper MR protocols and imaging features is key for appropriate and timely diagnosis. Here we discuss the relevant anatomy of the lumbosacral plexus, appropriate imaging techniques for its evaluation, and discuss the variety of pathologies that may afflict it.
Topics: Diagnosis, Differential; Humans; Image Enhancement; Low Back Pain; Lumbosacral Plexus; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Peripheral Nerve Injuries; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases
PubMed: 25940664
DOI: 10.1111/jon.12253 -
Current Urology Reports Sep 2016Perforation of a viscus with a mesh product either during or subsequent to pelvic floor reconstruction can be associated with devastating outcomes. If surgeons are going... (Review)
Review
Perforation of a viscus with a mesh product either during or subsequent to pelvic floor reconstruction can be associated with devastating outcomes. If surgeons are going to place mesh, they also need to be familiar with symptoms concerning for perforation. The index of suspicion should always be present, as these patients can present years after initial mesh placement. The best opportunity for intervention in these serious complications is the first intervention. As bits of mesh are chipped away during attempted interventions, residual mesh fragments become disjointed, frayed, and scarred further, making their removal even more challenging, in addition to traumatizing likely already weakened tissues. This review presents strategies for patient evaluation in the setting of possible mesh perforation, in addition to treatment strategies for urethral, bladder, ureteral, and colonic/rectal injury. Ultimately, the decision as to how much mesh is removed should be based on each patient's unique presentation.
Topics: Female; Humans; Intestinal Perforation; Pelvic Floor; Risk Factors; Suburethral Slings; Surgical Mesh; Urethra; Urinary Bladder
PubMed: 27438809
DOI: 10.1007/s11934-016-0621-3 -
Journal of Medical Case Reports May 2024Wandering spleen is a rare clinical entity in which the spleen is hypermobile and migrate from its normal left hypochondriac position to any other abdominal or pelvic... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Wandering spleen is a rare clinical entity in which the spleen is hypermobile and migrate from its normal left hypochondriac position to any other abdominal or pelvic position as a result of absent or abnormal laxity of the suspensory ligaments (Puranik in Gastroenterol Rep 5:241, 2015, Evangelos in Am J Case Rep. 21, 2020) which in turn is due to either congenital laxity or precipitated by trauma, pregnancy, or connective tissue disorder (Puranik in Gastroenterol Rep 5:241, 2015, Jawad in Cureus 15, 2023). It may be asymptomatic and accidentally discovered for imaging done for other reasons or cause symptoms as a result of torsion of its pedicle and infarction or compression on adjacent viscera on its new position. It needs to be surgically treated upon discovery either by splenopexy or splectomy based on whether the spleen is mobile or not.
CASE PRESENTATION
We present a case of 39 years old female Ethiopian patient who presented to us complaining constant lower abdominal pain especially on the right side associated with swelling of one year which got worse over the preceding few months of her presentation to our facility. She is primiparous with delivery by C/section and a known case of HIV infection on HAART. Physical examination revealed a right lower quadrant well defined, fairly mobile and slightly tender swelling. Hematologic investigations are unremarkable. Imaging with abdominopelvic U/S and CT-scan showed a predominantly cystic, hypo attenuating right sided pelvic mass with narrow elongated attachment to pancreatic tail and absent spleen in its normal position. CT also showed multiple different sized purely cystic lesions all over both kidneys and the pancreas compatible with AD polycystic kidney and pancreatic disease. With a diagnosis of wandering possibly infarcted spleen, she underwent laparotomy, the finding being a fully infarcted spleen located on the right half of the upper pelvis with twisted pedicle and dense adhesions to the adjacent distal ileum and colon. Release of adhesions and splenectomy was done. Her post-operative course was uneventful.
CONCLUSION
Wandering spleen is a rare clinical condition that needs to be included in the list of differential diagnosis in patients presenting with lower abdominal and pelvic masses. As we have learnt from our case, a high index of suspicion is required to detect it early and intervene by doing splenopexy and thereby avoiding splenectomy and its related complications.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Abdominal Pain; Pelvic Pain; Spleen; Splenectomy; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Wandering Spleen
PubMed: 38790071
DOI: 10.1186/s13256-024-04580-6 -
American Journal of Obstetrics and... Aug 2020Laparoscopic or robotic procedures involving extensive dissection of the posterior cul-de-sac and pelvic sidewalls often require the surgeon and assistants to manipulate...
Laparoscopic or robotic procedures involving extensive dissection of the posterior cul-de-sac and pelvic sidewalls often require the surgeon and assistants to manipulate the uterus and adnexa to optimize intraoperative visualization and access pathology. This is especially true during excision of endometriosis surgeries. Temporary oophoropexy and uteropexy improve intraoperative visualization and decrease the necessity for additional ports and surgical assistants. These procedures can be efficiently completed by using a Keith needle and suture passed suprapubically (uteropexy) or through the bilateral lower quadrants (oophoropexy) (Figure), through the target viscera, and back through the abdominal wall. The suture is then secured at the level of the abdominal wall. A video was included to describe and demonstrate these procedures. Temporary oophoropexy and uteropexy free the assistant to provide countertraction, irrigation, and removal of specimens rather than limiting the assistant to the sole duty of retraction. This can in turn improve operating room efficiency and safety.
Topics: Endometriosis; Female; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures; Humans; Laparoscopy; Ovary; Peritoneal Diseases; Robotic Surgical Procedures; Uterus
PubMed: 32360845
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2020.04.027 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Sep 2019Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease defined by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus, most frequently on the pelvic viscera and ovaries,... (Review)
Review
Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease defined by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus, most frequently on the pelvic viscera and ovaries, which is associated with pelvic pains and infertility. It is an inflammatory disorder with some features of autoimmunity. It is accepted that ectopic endometriotic tissue originates from endometrial cells exfoliated during menstruation and disseminating into the peritoneum by retrograde menstrual blood flow. It is assumed that the survival of endometriotic cells in the peritoneal cavity may be partially due to their abrogated elimination by natural killer (NK) cells. The decrease of NK cell cytotoxic activity in endometriosis is associated with an increased expression of some inhibitory NK cell receptors. It may be also related to the expression of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G), a ligand for inhibitory leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor subfamily B member 1 (LILRB1) receptors. The downregulated cytotoxic activity of NK cells may be due to inhibitory cytokines present in the peritoneal milieu of patients with endometriosis. The role of NK cell receptors and their ligands in endometriosis is also confirmed by genetic association studies. Thus, endometriosis may be a subject of immunotherapy by blocking NK cell negative control checkpoints including inhibitory NK cell receptors. Immunotherapies with genetically modified NK cells also cannot be excluded.
PubMed: 31540116
DOI: 10.3390/jcm8091468 -
Gut Sep 2019Imaging of the living human brain is a powerful tool to probe the interactions between brain, gut and microbiome in health and in disorders of brain-gut interactions, in... (Review)
Review
Imaging of the living human brain is a powerful tool to probe the interactions between brain, gut and microbiome in health and in disorders of brain-gut interactions, in particular IBS. While altered signals from the viscera contribute to clinical symptoms, the brain integrates these interoceptive signals with emotional, cognitive and memory related inputs in a non-linear fashion to produce symptoms. Tremendous progress has occurred in the development of new imaging techniques that look at structural, functional and metabolic properties of brain regions and networks. Standardisation in image acquisition and advances in computational approaches has made it possible to study large data sets of imaging studies, identify network properties and integrate them with non-imaging data. These approaches are beginning to generate brain signatures in IBS that share some features with those obtained in other often overlapping chronic pain disorders such as urological pelvic pain syndromes and vulvodynia, suggesting shared mechanisms. Despite this progress, the identification of preclinical vulnerability factors and outcome predictors has been slow. To overcome current obstacles, the creation of consortia and the generation of standardised multisite repositories for brain imaging and metadata from multisite studies are required.
Topics: Big Data; Brain; Humans; Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Nerve Net; Neuroimaging; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 31175206
DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2019-318308 -
Menopause (New York, N.Y.) Jun 2022A common symptom of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) is dyspareunia, attributed to vulvovaginal atrophy. Our objective was to systematically describe the pain...
OBJECTIVE
A common symptom of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) is dyspareunia, attributed to vulvovaginal atrophy. Our objective was to systematically describe the pain characteristics and anatomic locations of tenderness in a cohort with moderate/severe dyspareunia likely due to GSM.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study reports the baseline data of postmenopausal women with dyspareunia screened for an intervention trial of topical estrogen. Postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy who had moderate or severe dyspareunia were eligible if estrogen was not contraindicated. Biopsychosocial assessments were performed using the Vulvar Pain Assessment Questionnaire, and participants underwent a systematic vulvovaginal examination that included a visual assessment and cotton swab testing for tenderness rated using the Numerical Rating Scale (0-10). Vaginal pH and mucosal sensitivity were assessed; pelvic floor muscles and pelvic viscera were palpated for tenderness.
RESULTS
Fifty-five eligible women were examined between July 2017 and August 2019. Mean age was 59.5 ± 6.8 years, and duration of dyspareunia was 6.2 ± 4.3 years. The mean intercourse pain score was 7.3 ± 1.8, most often described as "burning" and "raw." Ninety-eight percent had physical findings of vulvovaginal atrophy. Median pain scores from swab touch at the vulvar vestibule (just outside the hymen) were 4 to 5/10, and topical lidocaine extinguished pain. Median vaginal mucosal pain was zero.
CONCLUSIONS
Participants described their pain as "burning" and "dry." Tenderness was most severe and most consistently located at the vulvar vestibule. Correlating the symptom of dyspareunia with genital examination findings may further our understanding of treatment outcomes for GSM.
Topics: Aged; Atrophy; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dyspareunia; Estrogens; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Pelvic Pain; Postmenopause; Syndrome; Vagina
PubMed: 35231008
DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001956 -
Radiologic Clinics of North America Sep 2014Radiation injuries often occur during or after radiation therapy in the abdomen or pelvis. Although any organ in the abdomen or pelvis may be exposed to and injured by... (Review)
Review
Radiation injuries often occur during or after radiation therapy in the abdomen or pelvis. Although any organ in the abdomen or pelvis may be exposed to and injured by radiation therapy directed to a nearby organ, this article focuses on more frequently encountered imaging findings of inadvertent radiation damage. It is important for the radiologist to be familiar with the imaging appearances of inadvertent radiation damage to abdominopelvic viscera in order to sustain clinical relevance and not mistake radiation injuries for other entities.
Topics: Abdomen; Diagnostic Imaging; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Pelvis; Radiation Injuries; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Ultrasonography; Viscera
PubMed: 25173657
DOI: 10.1016/j.rcl.2014.05.004