[Diagnosis of congenital uterine anomaly using three-dimensional ultrasound]

The prevalence of uterine malformation is about 3% to 4% in general population. Half of these women manifest no clinical symptoms and discovering the malformation is incidental. The other half having congenital or acquired uterine malformation suffers from fertility problems or obstetric complications such as preterm labor, intrauterine growth restriction and pathological lie or presentation. Since some of this malformation can be surgically corrected, pre-surgical pelvic imaging has a diagnostic and therapeutic value. One of the common imaging methods is the pelvic ultrasonography. A major disadvantage of two-dimensional pelvic ultrasonography is its inability to reconstruct the uterine coronal axis. Imaging of this axis has major significance in the diagnosis of uterine fundus malformation. In recent years further advances in ultrasonography have led to three-dimensional ultrasonography (3DUS). This method enables multiplanner three-dimensional reconstruction of the uterus. This review shows the advantages of the three-dimensional ultrasound as a diagnostic tool. Several works are reviewed comparing this imaging method to others. The authors also present several examples of uterine malformations from their own experience.