Association between Physical Activity and Menstrual Cycle Disorders in Young Athletes.

Our study aims to evaluate clinical predictors of menstrual cycle disorders in female athletes who compete in running disciplines. This is a prospective observational study. Women were recruited between January and May 2022. Fifty-three patients were enrolled and completed a questionnaire about menstrual cycle, physical activity, and food habit characteristics. Of the women in our population, 39.6% had menstrual irregularities and reported a significantly higher number of kilometers run per week (67 vs. 35, p:0.02). The number of kilometers run per week was associated with menstrual irregularities (for 10 km, OR 1.35; IC95% 1.05-1.73; p: 0.02) after adjusting for BMI, age, level of sport and caloric intake. The variable of "km run per week" appeared as a diagnostic indicator of irregular menstrual cycle with statistical significance (AUC ROC curve 0.71, IC95% 0.54-0.86, p-value=0.01) and the cut-off of 65 km run per week is a good indicator of the presence of irregular menstrual cycle (sensitivity (SE) and specificity (SP) of 55% and 81.48%). Menstrual cycle disorders are very frequent in female athletes, and the variable of km run per week may play a role in screening endurance athletes at high risk for these disorders.

Italian validation of the German Pelvic Floor Questionnaire for pregnant and postpartum women.

OBJECTIVE: The only available validated questionnaire for pelvic floor disorders in pregnant and postpartum women is in German. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the German Pelvic Floor Questionnaire for pregnant and postpartum women into Italian. STUDY DESIGN: The questionnaire was translated into Italian by standardized procedural steps. The final version of the questionnaire was submitted to women in the third trimester of pregnancy or within 6 weeks post partum. Construct validity was tested using the Wilcoxon test, and internal consistency was tested using Cronbach's alpha. Test-retest reliability was measured with Cohen's kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Fifty women answered the questionnaire. Construct validity was demonstrated, as the questionnaire discriminated significantly between patients with and without symptoms for four domains of pelvic floor disorders. Internal consistency was satisfactory (0.62-0.93). Cohen's kappa values for test-retest reliability were between 0.46 (moderate agreement) and 1.00 (complete agreement). Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged between 0.93 and 0.96, indicating very satisfactory overall agreement for each functional domain. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian version of the German Pelvic Floor Questionnaire for pregnant and postpartum women is reliable, valid and consistent.

Comparison of V-Y Advancement Flap Versus Lotus Petal Flap for Plastic Reconstruction After Surgery in Case of Vulvar Malignancies: A Retrospective Single Center Experience.

Vulvoperineal defects after demolitive surgery for preneoplastic or malignant vulvar lesions require a reconstruction to restore good sexual functions and to offer a satisfactory cosmetic result. Several techniques of reconstruction have been described in the past, leading to a more conservative and localized treatment. This study retrospectively reviewed patients with primary or recurrent vulvar malignancies that had undergone vulvoperineal reconstruction between 2010 and 2016 using the V-Y advancement flap and the 2 variant of the lotus petal flap (LPF) in terms of surgical outcome and postoperative complications. Two hundred eighty-four (284) women were reviewed, 234 of them having undergone V-Y flap and 128, the LPF. Overall, postoperative complications occurred in 21.5% of patients including 21% (27/128) of the V-Y group and in 13% (14/106) of the LPF group. The 2 techniques are valid and feasible for vulvar reconstruction in case of moderate defects. No statistically significant differences in terms of complications were observed between the 2 groups overall (P = 0.588), or by comparing the primary (P = 0.202) or the recurrent setting (P = 0.281). Lotus petal flap, particularly the tunneled variant, was superior to V-Y advancement flap in terms of functional and cosmetic results in patients undergoing resection for primary vulvar malignancies.