Abstract
Because the effects of age, menopausal status, weight and body mass index (BMI) on ovarian detectability by transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) have not been established, we determined their contributions to TVS visualization of the ovaries when one or both ovaries are visualized on the first ultrasound exam. A total of 29,877 women that had both ovaries visualized on their first exam were followed over 202,639 prospective TVS exams and 9703 women that had only one ovary visualized on their first exam were followed over 63,702 ultrasonography exams. All images were reviewed by a physician. While non-visualization of both ovaries increased with age in women selected on the basis of the visualization of only one ovary on their first ultrasound exam, one or both ovaries could be visualized in two out of every three women at 80 years of age and more than 50% of women over 80 years of age. At each age, more non-visualizations were associated with women that had only one ovary visualized on their first visit. Having only one ovary visualized on the first exam advanced non-visualizations by an average of ~10 years across all ages and by >20 years in women under 40 years of age. Conclusions: Having only one ovary visualized on an initial ultrasound exam considerably hastens complete non-visualization for this population; however, in these women, ovaries can still be visualized well past menopause, and body habitus is not limiting to TVS ovarian imaging, thus TVS should be considered capable of capturing an ovarian image in two out of every three women at 80 years of age.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-25-2022
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10030433
Funding Information
This research was funded by the Kentucky Department of Health and Human Services, grant number 202007161438, and the Telford Foundation.
Related Content
De-identified data sharing is available after institutional approval by the University of Kentucky and the requestor’s institution/employer through Institutional Review Board approved protocols at each.
Repository Citation
Pavlik, Edward J.; Fancher, Hannah; Dietrich, Charles S.; and van Nagell, John R. Jr., "Subsequent Ultrasonographic Non-Visualization of the Ovaries Is Hastened in Women with Only One Ovary Visualized Initially" (2022). Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Publications. 36.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/obgyn_facpub/36
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Healthcare, v. 10, issue 3, 433.
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).