PREOPERATIVE ULTRASONOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF NONGRAVID, ENLARGED UTERI- CORRELATION WITH BIMANUAL EXAMINATION

Objective: To correlate the size of the nongravid uterus measured by u ltrasound and bimanual examination before hysterectomy, with the actua l size of the specimens. Patients aad Methods: Uterine size of 49 cons ecutive patients, who underwent elective hysterectomy, was assessed by bimanual pelvic examination, preoperative ultrasonographic evaluation and actual postoperative size. Results: All preoperative ultrasonogra phic uterine dimensions significantly correlated with the correspondin g actual dimensions of the uterine specimens. Furthermore, ultrasonogr aphic uterine length had the best correlation with uterine size estima tion by bimanual examination, a formula was established in an attempt to calculate clinical uterine size by gestational week, using preopera tive ultrasonographic dimensions. Conclusions.' By using the aforement ioned formula, ultrasonographic uterine dimensions can be extrapolated to uterine size in terms of gestational week, and therefore, be appli cable to traditional clinical practice. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Irel and Ltd. All rights reserved.