Sometimes your heart isnt the only heart-shaped organ in your body.
A very small but significant group of women also have heart-shaped wombs.
This condition is known as a bicornuate uterus, and it can sometimes affect your fertility and pregnancy.
Heres what you gotta know about this unique formation.
What is a bicornuate uterus?
A bicornuate uterus is another name for a heart-shaped uterus.
Its a congenital condition, which means you’re born with it, and its very rare.
Only about 4 in 1,000 women have this particular kind of uterus.
Can you get pregnant with a bicornuate uterus?
Yes, you might still get pregnant with a bicornuate uterus, but it can make conceiving more difficult.
Women with this condition also have a greater risk of certain pregnancy complications, a large review found.
What causes a bicornuate uterus?
A bicornuate uterus is formed while youre a fetus developing in your own mothers uterus.
Your future womb develops from two ducts known as the mullerian ducts.
Normally, these ducts join together to create a uterus with one open cavity and two fallopian tubes.
But rarely, they dont completely fuse together, creating a bicornuate uterus.
Its not clear why some women develop this way.
Theres no evidence that its genetic, although research is ongoing.
What are symptoms of a bicornuate uterus?
Some women dont experience any symptoms of a bicornuate uterus at all.
If you have any of the above symptoms, its important to see a gynecologist and get checked out.
He or she can run tests to look for any uterine abnormalities.
This dye can make the shape of your uterus more apparent on the X-ray image.
They require different treatments, so your doctor may need to conduct more tests for a definitive diagnosis.
Ultrasound
This test uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of your uterus.
3D ultrasonography done transvaginally (i.e.
with a probe inserted in the vagina) can provide the clearest results along with MRIs.
Can a bicornuate uterus be corrected?
Most of the time, theres no need to fix a bicornuate uterus.
Many women with this condition dont have trouble getting pregnant and have healthy babies just like women without it.
In these cases, youll just get some extra monitoring during your pregnancy to address any possible complications early.
Research suggests that women who have this procedure to fix a bicornuate uterus go on to have successful births.
After surgery, however, youll need to wait for at least three months before trying to conceive.
When you do get pregnant, youll also need aC-section to deliver your baby.
This is because women whove had uterine surgery are at an increased risk foruterine ruptureduring vaginal labor.
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