Transabdominal pelvic sonography in the preoperative evaluation of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

PURPOSE

We assessed the clinical value of transabdominal pelvic sonography in the preoperative evaluation of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) who required feminizing genitoplasty.

METHODS

From 1987 to 1998, 31 patients with female pseudohermaphroditism due to CAH underwent feminizing genitoplasty. The median age of the patients was 9 months (range, 1-18 years). Radiologic evaluation performed before surgical reconstruction included retrograde genitography in the first 10 patients and sonographic examination in all 31 patients. Imaging was used to evaluate the anatomic positions and the length of the vagina, whether the junction of the vagina and the urogenital sinus occurred distal or proximal to the pelvic floor, and the presence of internal genitalia.

RESULTS

Abdominal sonography identified internal female genitalia in all 31 patients, identified the anatomic shape and position of the vagina in 30 patients (97%), and confirmed the site of communication between the vagina and the urogenital sinus relative to the pelvic floor in 28 patients (90%). Sonographic findings were confirmed by intraoperative panendoscopy. Genitography was less useful than sonography, identifying the site of communication between the vagina and urogenital sinus in only 6 (60%) of 10 patients.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with CAH undergoing vaginal reconstruction, sonography provides adequate information about the anatomy of the vagina and urogenital sinus for surgical decision-making.