Hystero Contrast Sonography |
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Hystero contrast sonography (HyCoSy) is an ultrasound procedure intended to diagnose structural defects of the female reproductive system, such as blockage of the fallopian tubes. It is conducted as an initial transvaginal ultrasound followed by the introduction of a catheter to force an aqueous fluid up the fallopian tube to provide a contrast medium for ultrasound. [1] This image demonstrates tubal patency indicating the possibility for sperm to swim towards the ovum, and for the zygote to migrate downwards towards the uterus, where it implants in the endometrium.
Ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women have both of these symptoms. The pain may be described as sharp, dull, or crampy. Pain may also spread to the shoulder if bleeding into the abdomen has occurred. Severe bleeding may result in a fast heart rate, fainting, or shock. With very rare exceptions, the fetus is unable to survive.
Medical ultrasound includes diagnostic techniques using ultrasound, as well as therapeutic applications of ultrasound. In diagnosis, it is used to create an image of internal body structures such as tendons, muscles, joints, blood vessels, and internal organs, to measure some characteristics or to generate an informative audible sound. The usage of ultrasound to produce visual images for medicine is called medical ultrasonography or simply sonography, or echography. The practice of examining pregnant women using ultrasound is called obstetric ultrasonography, and was an early development of clinical ultrasonography. The machine used is called an ultrasound machine, a sonograph or an echograph. The visual image formed using this technique is called an ultrasonogram, a sonogram or an echogram.
Obstetric ultrasonography, or prenatal ultrasound, is the use of medical ultrasonography in pregnancy, in which sound waves are used to create real-time visual images of the developing embryo or fetus in the uterus (womb). The procedure is a standard part of prenatal care in many countries, as it can provide a variety of information about the health of the mother, the timing and progress of the pregnancy, and the health and development of the embryo or fetus.
Gynecologic ultrasonography or gynecologic sonography refers to the application of medical ultrasonography to the female pelvic organs as well as the bladder, the adnexa, and the recto-uterine pouch. The procedure may lead to other medically relevant findings in the pelvis.This technique is useful to detect myomas or mullerian malformations.
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is the application of ultrasound contrast medium to traditional medical sonography. Ultrasound contrast agents rely on the different ways in which sound waves are reflected from interfaces between substances. This may be the surface of a small air bubble or a more complex structure. Commercially available contrast media are gas-filled microbubbles that are administered intravenously to the systemic circulation. Microbubbles have a high degree of echogenicity. There is a great difference in echogenicity between the gas in the microbubbles and the soft tissue surroundings of the body. Thus, ultrasonic imaging using microbubble contrast agents enhances the ultrasound backscatter, (reflection) of the ultrasound waves, to produce a sonogram with increased contrast due to the high echogenicity difference. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound can be used to image blood perfusion in organs, measure blood flow rate in the heart and other organs, and for other applications.
A hydrosalpinx is a condition that occurs when a fallopian tube is blocked and fills with serous or clear fluid near the ovary. The blocked tube may become substantially distended giving the tube a characteristic sausage-like or retort-like shape. The condition is often bilateral and the affected tubes may reach several centimeters in diameter. The blocked tubes cause infertility. A fallopian tube filled with blood is a hematosalpinx, and with pus a pyosalpinx.
Fallopian tube obstruction, also known as fallopian tube occlusion is a major cause of female infertility. Blocked fallopian tubes are unable to let the ovum and the sperm converge, thus making fertilization impossible. Fallopian tubes are also known as oviducts, uterine tubes, and salpinges.
An adnexal mass is a lump in the tissue of the adnexa of the uterus. Adnexal masses can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous), and they can be categorized as simple or complex.
Adenomatoid tumors are rare and benign mesothelial tumors, which arise from the lining of organs. It mainly presents in the genital tract, in regions such as the testis and epididymis. Because of this, researchers had a difficult time concluding that type of tumor has a mesothelial origin. Immunohistochemistry staining of tumor samples show that it is indeed positive for mesothelial-markers. It is the most common extratesticular neoplasm after lipoma, and accounts for 30% of these masses. On the other hand, adenomatoid tumors are the most common tumors of testicular adnexa. Although they are more common to be found in the paratesticular region they are sometimes found in the intratesticular region. It also has been found in other organs such as the pancreas, liver, mesocolon, and adrenal glands. In the female, it has been found in the body of the uterus and the fallopian tube. Most adenomatoid tumors do not cause much pain and can go unnoticed for a long time. Of course, there are a few exceptions to this absence of pain. An example of this is when adenomatoid tumors grow too close to testicular adnexal structures. Tumors of this kind are usually found to be asymptomatic and easily treatable.
The fertiloscope is a type of laparoscope, modified to make it suitable for trans-vaginal application, which is used in the diagnosis and treatment of female infertility.
Ovarian torsion (OT) or adnexal torsion is an abnormal condition where an ovary twists on its attachment to other structures, such that blood flow is decreased. Symptoms typically include pelvic pain on one side. While classically the pain is sudden in onset, this is not always the case. Other symptoms may include nausea. Complications may include infection, bleeding, or infertility.
Oral cholecystography is a radiological procedure used to visualize the gallbladder and biliary channels, developed in 1924 by American surgeons Evarts Ambrose Graham and Warren Henry Cole. It is usually indicated in cases of suspected gallbladder disease, and can also be used to determine or rule out the presence of intermittent obstruction of the bile ducts or recurrent biliary disease after biliary surgery.
The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges, are paired tubes in the human female body that stretch from the uterus to the ovaries. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproductive system. In other mammals, they are only called oviducts.
An interstitial pregnancy is a uterine but ectopic pregnancy; the pregnancy is located outside the uterine cavity in that part of the fallopian tube that penetrates the muscular layer of the uterus. The term cornual pregnancy is sometimes used as a synonym, but remains ambiguous as it is also applied to indicate the presence of a pregnancy located within the cavity in one of the two upper "horns" of a bicornuate uterus. Interstitial pregnancies have a higher mortality than ectopics in general.
Fertility testing is the process by which fertility is assessed, both generally and also to find the "fertile window" in the menstrual cycle. General health affects fertility, and STI testing is an important related field.
Hysterosalpingography (HSG), also known as uterosalpingography, is a radiologic procedure to investigate the shape of the uterine cavity and the shape and patency of the Fallopian tubes. It is a special x-ray procedure using dye to look at the womb (uterus) and Fallopian tubes. In this procedure a radio-opaque material is injected into the cervical canal, and radiographs are taken. A normal result shows the filling of the uterine cavity and the bilateral filling of the Fallopian tube with the injection material. To demonstrate tubal rupture, spillage of the material into the peritoneal cavity needs to be observed. Hysterosalpingography has vital role in treatment of infertility, especially in the case of fallopian tube blockage.
Paraovarian cysts or paratubal cysts are epithelium-lined fluid-filled cysts in the adnexa adjacent to the fallopian tube and ovary. The terms are used interchangeably, and depend on the location of the cyst.
Doppler ultrasonography is medical ultrasonography that employs the Doppler effect to perform imaging of the movement of tissues and body fluids, and their relative velocity to the probe. By calculating the frequency shift of a particular sample volume, for example, flow in an artery or a jet of blood flow over a heart valve, its speed and direction can be determined and visualized.
Chromopertubation is a method for the study of fallopian tube patency for suspected infertility in women caused by fallopian tube obstruction. Occlusion or pathology of the fallopian tubes is the most common cause of suspected infertility. Chromopertubation is sometimes commonly referred to a "laparoscopy and dye" test. It is currently one of the standard procedures in this field. In most cases, chromopertubation is performed to assess and determine the cause of someone's difficulties in getting pregnant.
Air polymer-type A, sold under the brand name ExEm Foam, is a drug for the detection of fallopian tube patency (openness) in people with known or suspected infertility. It was approved for use in the United States in November 2019.