Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Nov;6(11):3097-110.
doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01407.x. Epub 2009 Jul 28.

Menopause leading to increased vaginal wall thickness in women with genital prolapse: impact on sexual response

Lúcia Alves da Silva Lara  1 , Alfredo Ribeiro da Silva, Júlio César Rosa-E-Silva, Fernando Chaud, Marcos Felipe Silva-de-Sá, Antônio Renato Meireles E Silva, Ana Carolina Japur de Sá Rosa-E-Silva
Affiliations

Menopause leading to increased vaginal wall thickness in women with genital prolapse: impact on sexual response

Lúcia Alves da Silva Lara et al. J Sex Med. 2009 Nov.

Abstract

Introduction: Hypoestrogenism causes structural changes in the vaginal wall that can lead to sexual dysfunction. A reduction in vaginal wall thickness has been reported to occur after menopause, although without precise morphometry.

Aim: To measure vaginal wall thickness in women with genital prolapse in normal and hypoestrogenic conditions and to correlate sexual dysfunction with vaginal wall thickness and estradiol levels.

Methods: Surgical vaginal specimens from 18 normoestrogenic and 13 postmenopausal women submitted to surgery for genital prolapse grades I and II were examined. Patients were evaluated for FSH, estradiol, prolactin, glycemia, and serum TSH levels. For histological analysis, samples were stained with Masson's trichrome and hematoxylin-eosin. Sexual function was assessed by the Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS).

Main outcome measures: GRISS questionnaire, histological analysis, morphometric methods, Masson's trichrome.

Results: The vaginal wall was thicker in the postmenopausal than premenopausal group (2.72 +/- 0.72 mm and 2.16 +/- 0.43, P = 0.01, and 2.63 +/- 0.71 mm and 2.07 +/- 0.49 mm, P = 0.01, for the anterior and posterior walls, respectively). These thicknesses seem to be due to the muscular layer, which was also thicker in the postmenopausal group (1.54 +/- 0.44 and 1.09 +/- 0.3 mm, P = 0.02, and 1.45 +/- 0.47 and 1.07 +/- 0.44 mm, P = 0.03, for the anterior and posterior wall, respectively). The vaginal epithelium was thinner in the middle segment than in the proximal one in the posterior wall (0.17 +/- 0.07 mm, 0.15 +/- 0.05 mm, 0.24 +/- 0.09 mm, P = 0.02). There was no correlation between coital pain, vaginal wall thickness, and estradiol levels in either group.

Conclusion: The vaginal wall is thicker after menopause in women with genital prolapse. In this study, vaginal thickness and estrogen levels were not related to sexual dysfunction.

PubMed Disclaimer