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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Imaging
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1484189
This article is part of the Research Topic The Integration of Clinical Veterinary Anatomy and Diagnostic Imaging View all 10 articles

Assessment of uterine caruncles, uterine cervix, and vulva during the postpartum period in Kivircik ewes with Shear-wave elastography

Provisionally accepted
Zeynep Günay Uçmak Zeynep Günay Uçmak 1İbrahim Kurban İbrahim Kurban 2Melih Uçmak Melih Uçmak 1Mehmet Fatih Özbezek Mehmet Fatih Özbezek 3Mehmet Ragıp Kılıçarslan Mehmet Ragıp Kılıçarslan 1Sokol Duro Sokol Duro 4*Tomasz Szara Tomasz Szara 5Ozan Gündemir Ozan Gündemir 6
  • 1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 34320 Istanbul, Türkiye, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 2 Equine and Training Program, Vocational School of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, 34320 Istanbul, Türkiye, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 3 Institute of Graduate Studies, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, 34320 Istanbul, Türkiye, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 4 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Tirana, 1000 Tirana, Albania, Tirane, Albania
  • 5 Department of Morphological Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw, Poland
  • 6 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, 34320 Istanbul, Türkiye, Istanbul, Türkiye

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study aims to quantify the Shear wave speed (SWS) and stiffness of the uterine cervix (close to the internal cervical ostium (IOC) which is the cranial portion of cervix and close to the external cervical ostium (EOC) which is the caudal portion of cervix), caruncular areas, and vulvar labia during the postpartum period in healthy Kivircik ewes by using Shear-wave elastography. Power Doppler ultrasonography was performed to evaluate the color pixel percentage (CPP) of the caruncles. The study included 13 healthy pregnant Kivircik ewes, which were randomly selected.A total of 12 measurements were taken from the uterine cervix and vulva from the postpartum first day to PP42 (daily for the first week and weekly from PP14 to PP42). However, only eight measurements were obtained from the caruncles because they could not be visible after day 14. The time-dependent differences in the widest cross-sectional diameter of the caruncles were statistically significant (P<0.001) both in ewes giving birth to singletons and twins. As a result of power Doppler ultrasonography examination, the time-dependent differences in the CPP of the caruncles were statistically significant (P<0.01) in ewes giving birth to both singletons and twins. The diameter of the cervix at PP3 was significantly higher than the ones at PP14, PP21, PP28 (P<0.05). The SWS and stiffness in the IOC for all ewes at PP35 were significantly higher than the ones at PP1, PP4, PP7, and PP14 (P<0.05 and P<0.01; respectively). However, the time-dependent differences in SWS and stiffness in the EOC were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The time-dependent differences in the SWS and stiffness in the vulva were statistically significant (P<0.001) in ewes giving birth to both singletons and twins. In conclusion, it is possible to describe the changes throughout the postpartum period and evaluate the involution of the uterine cervix, caruncles, and vulvar labia and tissue stiffness with significant results by B mode ultrasonography, power Doppler and Shear wave elastography. We provided valuable information to elucidate the differences in the involution process of the uterine cervix, caruncles, and vulva concerning the number of offspring during the postpartum period in Kivircik ewes.

    Keywords: caruncula, Cervix, elastography, Postpartum Period, Vulva

    Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 11 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Günay Uçmak, Kurban, Uçmak, Özbezek, Kılıçarslan, Duro, Szara and Gündemir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sokol Duro, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Tirana, 1000 Tirana, Albania, Tirane, Albania

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