Sonographic Evaluation of the Normal Uterine Size and Volume Amongst Women of Ages 18 – 50 Years at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital

INTRODUCTION: The uterus is a reproductive organ located at the top of the vagina. The accurate determinant of the normal uterine size is of utmost importance to the gynaecologist because of its use in the management of gynaecological conditions. AIM: The aim of this study was to establish the values of normal uterine size and uterine volume in non-gravid adult females between the age of 18-50years at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). METHODOLOGY: Three hundred and seven non gravid female subjects were studied using the transabdominal technique of uterine examination with a 3.5MHZ transducer. The length, width and thickness of the uterus in each subject were obtained and the uterine volume calculated using the prolate ellipsoid formula obtained by the multiplication of length, width and thickness by a conversion factor of 4/3pi. In addition, the weight, height, parity, age as well as Body mass index(BMI) of each woman was recorded. Correlations between variables were calculated with Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis used. RESULTS: The age range for the study population was 18-50 years. The study recorded a mean uterine size of 6.74+0.70cm, 5.47+0.95cm and 4.45+0.73cm for the length, width and antero-posterior diameters respectively and mean volume of 75.45+26.36cm3. This study established a significant positive correlation between uterine size and volume and the various anthropometric variables namely age, body weight and body mass index(BMI).Significant differences between overall uterine size and uterine volume in the different age groups were also found. CONCLUSION: The study was able to give normal values of uterine size in this locality, the data from this research can be used as a baseline to accurately assess the uterine size and volume of non-pregnant adult females. The study also established that while age, parity, weight and BMI are important predictors of uterine size and uterine volume, the height of a woman has little or no effect on the uterine size and volum