COMPARE THE ARCHITECTURAL DIFFERENCES IN THE BONY PELVIS OF KOREAN WOMEN AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH THE MODE OF DELIVERY BY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY

Abstract

Objective We investigated the structural differences in the pelvic bone architecture of Korean women and their association with the mode of delivery by performing computed tomography (CT) pelvimetry. Methods This study was conducted on 175 women who underwent CT between March of 2006 and May of 2008. For making an objective assessment, one specialist in obsterics and gynecology measured the obstetrical conjugate, the true conjugate and the diagonal conjugate on the sagittal plane and the transverse diameter, the intertuberous diameter and the interspinous diameter on the coronal plane. The patients who underwent total hysterectomy or those who had a disease of the uterus were excluded from the current analysis. Results A total of 175 Korean women were examined, and their ages ranged from 20 to 50 years. The mean age was 37.6 ± 7.4 years. The interspinous diameter that was measured on CT scans was 94.6 ± 7.8 mm in the vaginal delivery group (n=84) and this was 90.9 ± 6.6 mm in the cesarean section group (n=20). This difference reached statistical signifi cance. Conclusion Our study examined the difference in the pelvic architecture with using CT and we found that the interspinous diameter can be the important determinant that affects normal vaginal delivery. Of these pelvimetric parameters, a wider interspinous diameter was signifi cantly associated with vaginal delivery. Multi-displinary approaches are warranted to examine this relation with regard to the various factors that are involved in delivery.