[An epidemiologic study of pelvic organ prolapse in urban Chinese women: a population-based sample in China]

Perceptions of pelvic floor dysfunction and rehabilitation care amongst women in southeast China after radical hysterectomy: a qualitative study

Objective

To investigate the perceptions of pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) and rehabilitation care amongst women after radical hysterectomy and to explore ways to improve quality of care.

Methods

Thirty-six women who underwent radical hysterectomy at a hospital in southeast China were enrolled via purposive sampling. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. The texts were analysed via qualitative content analysis.

Results

Four themes were obtained: serious lack of knowledge, heavy psychological burden, different coping strategies and great eagerness to receive multiparty support on PFD rehabilitation care.

Conclusion

The society and professional staff should strengthen health education on PFD. Professionals should offer education before and after surgery and actively provide rehabilitation consultation to promote the availability of rehabilitation to support women with PFD rehabilitation care. In addition, family-centred care is an important way to support women to return to normal life, and women's need for family support should be more actively expressed. Moreover, knowledge of medical insurance should be popularised, especially in rural areas in China.

Single-cell transcriptome profiling of the vaginal wall in women with severe anterior vaginal prolapse

Anterior vaginal prolapse (AVP) is the most common form of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and has deleterious effects on women's health. Despite recent advances in AVP diagnosis and treatment, a cell atlas of the vaginal wall in AVP has not been constructed. Here, we employ single-cell RNA-seq to construct a transcriptomic atlas of 81,026 individual cells in the vaginal wall from AVP and control samples and identify 11 cell types. We reveal aberrant gene expression in diverse cell types in AVP. Extracellular matrix (ECM) dysregulation and immune reactions involvement are identified in both non-immune and immune cell types. In addition, we find that several transcription factors associated with ECM and immune regulation are activated in AVP. Furthermore, we reveal dysregulated cell-cell communication patterns in AVP. Taken together, this work provides a valuable resource for deciphering the cellular heterogeneity and the molecular mechanisms underlying severe AVP.