07: Aging effects on pelvic floor support: a pilot study of nulliparous women

Abstract

07 Aging effects on pelvic floor support: a pilot study of nulliparous women C. W. Swenson, M. Masteling, J. O. DeLancey, L. Chen University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI OBJECTIVES: 1) To determine the effects of aging on the pelvic floor in the absence of pregnancy and childbirth-related changes. 2) Test the hypothesis that aging leads to descent of the pelvic floor structures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a pilot study from June 2017eAugust 2018 comparing clinical and MRI-based measures of pelvic floor support in nulliparous women <40 years old and 70 years old without a history of treatment for, or symptoms of, pelvic organ prolapse. Women underwent clinical examination that included: POP-Q, instrumented speculum testing to evaluate pelvic floor closure strength, and handgrip strength. All women underwent dynamic 3D-stress MRI imaging and the following measures were obtained at maximal Valsalva in the mid-sagittal plane (Figure 1a): genital hiatus (pubic bone to perineal body), pelvic floor depth and cervix height (vertical distance from horizontal reference line), and levator area (Sammarco 2017). In the axial plane, levator hiatus area was measured and divided into the anterior portion, bordered by the margins of the pubic rami, and the posterior portion, bordered by