Osborne A. Brines

Torsion of undiseased uterine adnexa in virgins

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to consider the twisting of oviducts and ovaries which are otherwise normal without other coexisting pelvic pathology. In order to eliminate all reasonable possibility of inflammation it is deemed advisable not to include those cases in which the condition has occurred beyond the age of sixteen years. It must be realized that coitus introduces the possibility of pelvic infection, and there is no assurance of virginity beyond this age. Perhaps we should have limited our consideration of cases to those who had not reached puberty, because occasionally the state of virginity is terminated soon after. On the maternity services of two Detroit hospitals 94 girls sixteen years of age or under were delivered in one year (1929) and one of the patients was only eleven years old. During this same period of time (one year) the records of the Juvenile Court of Detroit show that of the 1886 girls sixteen years of age or under examined, only 566 or 30 per cent had intact hymens. Schied 1 in 1922 reported having operated upon a fifteen-year-old patient with pyosalpingitis and another, thirteen years old, with chronic active salpingitis. Gonorrheal vulvovaginitis in children and young girls is a common disease. Married women could not be considered, even if there were not the element of pregnancy, because the assurance of normal oviducts in this group is still more remote.