Re: Question about UD terminology! (very long fused UD explanation w/pg ment)

[Guest guest]

> So, they did an MRI and then a

> hysteroscopy and laproscopy and found that I had a vaginal septum

> (which they removed), 2 cervixes, and 2 uterus that were " partially

> fused at the midline " . What does " partially fused at the midline "

> mean? Does that mean I have both a UD and US?

Hi Ali!

Welcome to the ranks of Fused Uterus Didelphys ... there are at least

5 of us here, though and I are taking a break from the board

right now. You have a type of UD - not SU. What is the difference?

Grab a chair - this is a long one. An SU is ONE uterus that has a

fibrous wall with very little blood flow dividing the internal

cavities. It is collagen based and just a wedge of tissue - it can't

support fetal life if a baby implants on it, which women

w/uncorrected SU can have higher rates of early m/c. A BU is another

type of uterine anomaly. In this case, there is ONE uterus, also with

a dividing wall but in this case, the wall is made of a layer of

muscle just like the wall of the uterus (myometrium). These two types

of MA's occur when the two mullerian ducts in the fetus (which

normally come together and then become one unsegmented cavity) don't

have the wall between them recede completely and the uterus is left

with a residual internal wall. A third type of MA is UD. In typical

UD, those two mullerian ducts never fuse and develop into TWO

complete, independent systems (imagine 0 0). In some UD's however,

those two uteri are fused together (imagine 00). How is this

different from BU? In BU the internal wall is a single thickness -

the two walls thinned to one layer of muscle but stopped - but with

fused UD the wall is double thickness - just like two uteri glued

together. Does that make any sense, visually? BU's and UD's should

NOT be surgically corrected except in very rare circumstances.

You asked how this would affect your fertility and ability to carry a

baby. Funny you asked ... I'm 33wks pg right now :-) As far as

fertility, if you have no vaginal septum any more and both your tubes

are open *in theory* your diagnosis should not affect your fertility.

That's not to say you might not have *other* fertility problems,

completely unrelated to your MA - some folks here do. But having an

your diagnosis alone in theory should not affect conception. We

sometimes question as a group whether women w/MAs in general have a

higher rate of additional fertility issues, but we're still working

on that.

As far as carrying a baby, this varies from woman to woman. Since

there are so few of us here on the board I don't have a huge sample

to pull from, but most of us have done FINE carrying our pregnancies.

As with any MA, you'd want to very very frequent checks with your OB

to make sure your cervix stays shut. The risks are the same as with

other MAs ... we have an increased risk of breech presentation, an

increased risk of premature labor (which careful watching and

treatment can reduce a GREAT deal) and an increased risk of IUGR (a

slight slowing of the aby's growth - also not a big issue, as scary

as it sounds).

Let me tell you my personal experience. My fused UD is wacky - one

side is super tiny and muscular, and therefore not safe for

pregnancy. We ligated the tube on that side to prevent pg. I was very

lucky - got pregnant on my second cycle trying. I had a cerclage

(stitch in the cervix to keep it shut) placed at 12 weeks for other

reasons (history of cervical carcinoma). My baby turned at 29 wks

with help from acupuncture. This actually caused a small amniotic

rupture, which healed quickly (this is very rare, btw). I'm now 33

wks and will have the cerclage taken out in about 2-3 wks. I have had

a great deal of pain in the pregnancy - which docs figured might have

been the fused walls trying to stretch - but it was all benign. Which

means it was scary and hurt but wasn't a symptom of labor or a

problem with me or the baby. My cervix has stayed lovely and long and

my baby is measuring completely normally. Yay!

So that's the story. I don't post here often anymore since I'm so

danged tired these days but you can feel free to email me directly

with ANY questions.

Try to think of MAs as a rainbow. SU's, BUs and UDs are those biiiig

stripes of yellow, blue and red. Fused UD is kind of like the thinner

line of orange. Me, my funky fused, asymmetrical muscular UD is kind

of like the really skinny line of fuzzy color BETWEEN orange and

yellow .... its just all a big spectrum with a gajillion different

variations :-)

Best of luck,

33 wks

asymmetrical fused UD bicollis

resected vaginal septum, ligated rt tube

[Guest guest]

, thanks for the great explanation - I wish this was in a book or a

website somewhere!!! I have a true BU, so this twin pregnancy is gonna be

interesting My OB said they couldn't turn up anything on twinning in BU

in the literature, except ONE case study in a foreign journal! Maybe we

just need our OB's and RE's to publish more!

Hugs

Mikki

11w1d pregnant with TWINS!

Braedon 20 months

Faith 8 years

[Guest guest]

>Are your babies in different horns?

Yup ... my ultrasounds look like eyes peeking out at us

mikki

> >>I have a true BU, so this twin pregnancy is gonna be

> > interesting My OB said they couldn't turn up anything on

> twinning in BU

> > in the literature, except ONE case study in a foreign journal!

> Maybe we

> > just need our OB's and RE's to publish more!

>

> Mikki,

> Are your babies in different horns? We had a member here ()

> that had twins in a BU, but they were both in the SAME horn. Other

> than bedrest due to preeclampsia (not trying to minimize how hard the

> bedrest was!) she did wonderful! Good luck!

> Sara

> Sara SU resected x2

>

>

>

>

> Share bookmarks: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MullerianAnomalies/links/

>

> Share files:

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MullerianAnomalies/files/

>

> The Congenital Uterine Anomalies Home Page:

> http://www.wegrokit.com/uterineanomalies/

>

>

>

> es/

>

> The Congenital Uterine Anomalies Home Page:

> http://www.wegrokit.com/uterineanomalies/

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> , thanks for the great explanation - I wish this was in a

book or a

> website somewhere!!!

Glad I could help, Mikki! I can't keep up with the board much (at 33

wks pg, life consists of work-eat-sleep) but I'm trying to start

skimming again.

> I have a true BU, so this twin pregnancy is gonna be

> interesting My OB said they couldn't turn up anything on

twinning in BU

> in the literature, except ONE case study in a foreign journal!

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!! Not surprising that your OB

couldn't find anything - there isn't much published AT ALL on MAs.

I've " met " a number of MA twin pgs (I think you are the sixth) but

lost track of most of them - one member told me off-board she felt

lonely here b/c no one else had been in her shoes :-( I was sad that

she didn't find what she needed here, but I'm glad you are sticking

around :-) Two of those stuck around all the way to the end to share

their happy news (a BU and a UU), so I hope you will too!

> Maybe we

> just need our OB's and RE's to publish more!

Honey, I've been saying that for years :-/ In any event I have a good

feeling about these babies of yours :-) Please let us know how you're

doing!

funky fused UD

33wk pg