Research Projects
OPAL– Organ Prolapse and Levator
Do Women with Prolapse Have Levator Ani Impairment?
Mechanisms of Vaginal Wall Support Failure
Sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development R01HD38665
Pelvic organ prolapse is a condition where the pelvic organs (the bladder, uterus, vagina and/or rectum) fall downward and bulge out through the opening of the vagina. We will recruit 300 women for a National Institutes of Health study concerning pelvic organ prolapse – 150 who have this condition and 150 who do not. We are studying women between the ages of 40 and 80 with good bladder control. The commitment involves two study visits to the University of Michigan Medical Campus in Ann Arbor that will take approximately one hour each. Each participant will be asked to fill out a questionnaire and undergo a series of clinical bladder tests, a brief pelvic examination and an MRI scan. Each woman will receive up to $200 for her time. IRBMED# 1999-0395. For further information and/or to enroll, call 734-936-5460 or e-mail: OPAL@umich.edu
More Info (Engage Website)
SCOR Project 1 - Biomechanics of Birth-Related Injuries
Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health P50 HD044406-07
Pregnancy and birth are remarkable times in a woman's life in many positive ways. Unfortunately, for certain women, changes that occur as a result of vaginal delivery, during the reproductive years, can lead to increased problems later in their life span. Pelvic floor disorders such as pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontienence are much more common in women that have given birth than in those who have not. These problems significantly affect women's quality of life and often result in the need for complex surgery that has a high re-operation rate of approximately 30%. If we are to develop preventative strategies that spare at-risk women while not intervening in women who are not at risk for pelvic floor dysfunction, we must know what injuries occur in the pelvic floor that increase women's chance of developing these problems. In addition we must know what obstetrical factors are associated with the occurrence of these injuries. The preveiously mysterious pelvic floor changes that occur in the pelvic floor that increase women's chance of developing thes problems. In addition we must know what obstetrical factors are associated with the occurrence of these injuries. The previously mysterious pelvic floor changes that occur which allow a 7 1/2 pound infant to pass out of the body are only now, wiht the help of advavnced technology, being discovered.
We will recruit women between the agest of 18 and 45 who are 32 weeks or greater gestation who are delivering a baby by cesarean section. Recruitment Pending
SCOR Project 2 - Maternal Birth-Related Neuromuscular Injury and Recovery: Phase II
Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health P50 HD044406-07
Preliminary studies using Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI) have shown a plausible causal linkage of prolapse and incontienence symptoms to a structural defect in the pubovisceral portion of the levator ani muscle. This defect has not been found in women who have not given birth to a child. This specific muscle defect is found in 2 to 4 times as many women who have symptoms of prolapse and incontinence than in those who do not have symptoms. It is also associated with a reduction in muscle strength. Currently we do not know what kind of injury is responsible for the defect in the PVM muscle. Important questions remain: Is the injury associated with specific events of delivery or a consequence of pregnancy itself? Do some women become injured but spontaneously recover? How do those women differ from women that don't recover? This study hopes to answer these questions by validating risk factors associated with PVM and confirming that PVM injuries are caused by birth, rather than by pregnancy, by comparing a sample of women who have vaginal births with those who deliver by c-section.
SCOR Project 3 - Mechanisms of Posterior Wall Prolapse
Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health P50 HD044406-07
This project seeks to clarify the role that birth-related injuries play in causing posterior vaginal prolapse. Competing hypotheses have been proposed relating to the causal role of endopelvic fascia or levator ani muscle failure. However, data to resolve these conflicts are not available and are needed to establish the relative contributions of each type of injury. This study will study the interaction of these two mechanisms in leading to posterior vaginal prolapse. We will recruit 75 women with PVP and 75 controls for comparison.
For further information and/or to enroll, call 734-936-5460, or e-mail: PFRG@umich.edu
