A Text-book of Diseases of WomenPenrose, Charles B. (Charles Bingham)
Science
A Text-book of Diseases of Women
Penrose, Charles B. (Charles Bingham)
Women -- Diseases
II. _Cervical anteflexion_, in which the axis of the body of the uterus
is inclined forward to the normal degree, and the cervix is bent
forward upon it (Fig. 81).
III. _Cervico-corporeal anteflexion_, when the cervix and body of the
uterus are both bent forward upon each other (Fig. 82).
Anteflexion of the uterus is a disease of single and sterile married
women. It is very rarely found in women who have borne children. The
disease is congenital or is caused by imperfect development during
childhood.
[Illustration: FIG. 81.--Cervical anteflexion.]
[Illustration: FIG. 82.--Cervico-corporeal anteflexion.]
The fetal condition of a large cervix and a small, sharply-flexed body
may persist. The posterior wall of the uterus may develop while the
development of the anterior wall is arrested, and thus the uterus would
be flexed forward. A mark of such arrest of development is sometimes
seen in the atrophied or undeveloped anterior lip of the cervix.
Anteflexion is usually accompanied by a small, undeveloped condition of
the whole of the uterus, and often by poorly developed vagina, tubes,
and ovaries.
It is probable that improper dress and hygiene during the period of
puberty have much to do with the development of anteflexion. The
early menstrual history sometimes points to poor development of the
sexual organs. The menses often make their appearance much later than
usual--sometimes when a girl is nineteen or twenty years of age--and
when established, the function is often irregular, the bleeding
recurring at long intervals.
The most prominent =symptom= of anteflexion of the uterus is
dysmenorrhea, or painful menstruation. The dysmenorrhea is
characteristic: violent pains in the center of the lower abdomen,
extending down the thighs, occur for several hours before the bleeding
begins. In the later years of the disease the pain extends to the whole
of the pelvis and the back. The pain is caused, in all probability, by
the accumulation of blood behind the obstruction in the cervical canal.
When the blood begins to escape freely, the pain is relieved, and may
be absent during the remainder of the menstrual period. The blood is
often clotted during the first part of the flow. Nausea and vomiting
may be present during the height of the pain.
The menstrual period may be followed by several days of great physical
weakness and debility.
Unless relieved by pregnancy or by proper treatment, the anteflexion
will persist during the menstrual life of the woman. The suffering
increases with time. Endometritis, salpingitis, and ovaritis follow old
cases of anteflexion.
Sterility usually accompanies well-marked anteflexion. This may be due
to the altered direction of the cervix in case of cervical anteflexion,
to the obstruction in the cervical canal that interferes with the
ingress of spermatozoa, to the generally undeveloped condition of the
genital organs, or to the inflammation of the mucous membrane of the
cervix and the body of the uterus.
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