Noncommunicating Rudimentary Horn of the Uterus – Case Report of a Rare Anomaly with a Short Review of Literature

Unicornuate uterus is one of the rare varieties of congenital uterine anomalies, of which a unicornuate uterus with a noncommunicating uterine horn with a functional endometrium is even more rare. Women with this condition continue to cyclically menstruate through the noncommunicating uterine horn a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Prashant B. Joshi, Shailee Prabhu, Sreelakshmi Suresh Babu, Ashwin Shetty, Baleshwar Mishra, Maithili Kunte, Nayan Bendapudi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-01-01
Series:Archives of Medicine and Health Sciences
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/amhs.amhs_121_24
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Summary:Unicornuate uterus is one of the rare varieties of congenital uterine anomalies, of which a unicornuate uterus with a noncommunicating uterine horn with a functional endometrium is even more rare. Women with this condition continue to cyclically menstruate through the noncommunicating uterine horn and develop hematometra. They can even harbor a pregnancy in this uterine horn by the trans-coelomic spread of spermatozoa, since the functional endometrium is capable of sustaining a fetus. However, these women are at a risk of devastating complications such as uterine rupture. Most of these patients are either undiagnosed or diagnosed late and present with ectopic pregnancy, uterine rupture, miscarriages or preterm labor and are difficult to manage. We present the case of a 14-year-old nulligravid girl who presented to the outpatient department with cyclical postmenarchal abdominal pain. This case highlights the challenges in diagnosing the condition which was reported on ultrasonography and confirmed on magnetic resonance imaging. She was identified to have hematometra in the functional non-communicating rudimentary horn of the unicornuate uterus and underwent laparoscopic excision of the same. The patient had an uneventful recovery and normal menstruation and no cyclical pain during menstruation at a 3-month follow-up. This article describes the uterine anomalies along with the clinical and radiological difficulties in their diagnosis. Early diagnosis in the adolescent age group is essential to avoid the complications. Laparoscopic procedures are excellent alternatives to open surgeries especially in young nulliparous women with a faster postoperative recovery.
ISSN:2321-4848
2321-6085