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Increased Blood Flow and Erythema in the Posterior Vestibular Mucosa in Vulvar Vestibulitis

From the Karolinska Institutet Danderyd Hospital, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Danderyd; Karolinska Institutet, Division of Basic Oral Sciences, Huddinge; and AstraZeneca, Pathology Unit, Safety Assessment, Södertälje, Sweden.

Address reprint requests to: Nina Bohm-Starke, MD, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Karolinska Institutet Danderyd Hospital, Danderyd, S-182 88, Sweden; E-mail: nina.bohm-starke{at}kvk.ds.sll.se.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate vascular changes as a possible underlying cause of mucosal erythema in women with vulvar vestibulitis.

METHODS: Laser Doppler perfusion imaging was used to map the superficial blood flow in the vestibular mucosa in 20 women with vestibulitis and in 21 healthy control subjects. A possible correlation between perfusion values and graded erythema (1–5) around the vaginal introitus was analyzed. Changes in microvascular density in the posterior part of the mucosa were investigated in sections from ten patients and ten controls by a computer-assisted image-processing program. Induced vasoconstriction of terminal arterioles in the same posterior area was also studied.

RESULTS: Significant increases in perfusion values were registered in the posterior parts of the vestibular mucosa in patients compared with controls. The highest blood flow was registered in the posterior fourchette. The most pronounced erythema was also located in the posterior vestibule in the patients. However, there was no significant correlation between perfusion values and degree of erythema in the same individual. The microvascular density or the ability of vestibular arterioles to constrict did not differ between patients and controls.

CONCLUSION: Women with vestibulitis have an increased superficial blood flow and erythema in the posterior parts of the vestibular mucosa. The increased perfusion, most probably caused by a neurogenic vasodilatation contributes to, but does not fully explain the erythema. Atrophic changes of the surface epithelium should also be considered in the evaluation of an erythema.

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