Comparison of the Vaginal and Labial Dimensions of Nullipara Ethnic Chinese and Western Women

Abstract

AbstractIntroduction and HypothesisVaginal dimensions have clinical and surgical implications. We sought to quantify the differences between vaginal and labial dimensions in healthy ethnic Chinese and Western women with normal pelvic organ support.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of ethnic Chinese nullipara (n = 33) and Western nullipara (n= 33) women recruited for research purposes. For each subject, magnetic resonance imaging was used to quantify the vaginal and labial dimensions. Specifically, we identified the anterior and posterior vaginal wall, the outline of the cervix in the mid-sagittal and coronal planes, and the distance from the labia majora to the hymenal ring at the urethral meatus.ResultsThe vaginal and labial dimensions of ethnic Chinese nullipara were 9-21 % smaller than those of Western nullipara; however, the relative orientation of the cervix to the vaginal opening was not different.ConclusionsSignificant group differences in vaginal and labial dimensions were found, with Chinese nullipara dimensions being up to 21% smaller than those of Western nullipara.Brief SummaryEthnic Chinese women have smaller vaginal and labial dimensions than Western women. These differences have clinical and surgical implications.