43. Amenorrhea

Duration = 5:44

00:00
APGO educational topic number 43
00:02
amenorrhea amenorrhea is the absence of
00:05
menstruation and can be classified as
00:07
primary or secondary a young woman with
00:10
primary amenorrhea has never menstruated
00:12
if she has never menstruated by age 13
00:16
and has no secondary sexual development
00:18
than she was classified as having
00:19
primary amenorrhea alternatively by age
00:22
15 if she has never menstruated and has
00:25
secondary sexual development than she is
00:26
also classified as having primary
00:28
amenorrhea secondary amenorrhea is
00:31
diagnosed when a menstruating woman has
00:33
not menstruated for 3 to 6 months or has
00:35
missed 3 periods these terms should not
00:38
be confused with all ago materia which
00:40
is the reduction of the frequency of
00:41
menses with bleeding 3 days greater than
00:44
40 but less than 6 months the objectives
00:47
of this video to explain the
00:48
pathophysiology and identify ideologies
00:50
of amenorrhea and ala komen area
00:52
including possible nutritional causes
00:54
describe associated symptoms examination
00:57
findings diagnostic tests and management
00:59
of amenorrhea discuss the consequences
01:02
of untreated amenorrhea and algal
01:04
malaria the most common cause of
01:06
amenorrhea is pregnancy and this should
01:08
always be ruled out prior to further
01:10
evaluation of amenorrhea the three most
01:12
common causes of amenorrhea not from
01:14
pregnancy are hypothalamic pituitary
01:16
dysfunction ovarian dysfunction and
01:18
anatomic abnormalities let’s start our
01:21
discussion of hypothalamic pituitary
01:23
dysfunction with a quick tutorial about
01:25
the hpo axis the hypothalamus releases
01:28
GnRH in a pulsatile fashion and this
01:30
travels to the anterior pituitary in the
01:32
pituitary stalk this GnRH stimulates the
01:36
anterior pituitary to release FSH and LH
01:38
the FSH and LH stimulate the ovaries to
01:42
begin the cycle of folliculogenesis
01:43
ovulation and estrogen and progesterone
01:46
release anything that alters is delicate
01:49
feedback loop can cause hypothalamic
01:51
pituitary amenorrhea April acting
01:54
secreting pituitary adenomas or
01:56
craniopharyngioma can impinge on the
01:58
pituitary stalk and alter blood flow
02:00
more common functional causes include
02:03
weight loss excessive exercise or
02:06
obesity modifying the causal behavior
02:08
can often restore menses the female
02:11
athlete triad of amenorrhea dis or
02:13
eating and osteopenia or osteoporosis
02:15
demonstrates the need for sufficient
02:17
caloric intake to enable the energy
02:19
expenditure for the hpo access to
02:21
function other potential causes for HP o
02:24
amenorrhea include head injury marijuana
02:26
psychoactive drugs chronic anxiety
02:29
anorexia nervosa and chronic medical
02:31
illness now we will discuss another
02:34
cause of amenorrhea ovarian failure
02:36
ovarian failure occurs when the ovaries
02:39
are exhausted or are resistant to FSH
02:41
and LH the most common causes of ovarian
02:44
failure are chromosomal abnormalities
02:46
such as Turner’s syndrome which lead to
02:48
a variant is genesis or autoimmune
02:50
ovarian failure anatomic abnormalities
02:54
causing amenorrhea can be congenital or
02:56
acquired common congenital causes
02:59
include imperforate hymen or absence of
03:02
the uterus or vagina a Sherman syndrome
03:05
is the most common cause of secondary
03:06
amenorrhea
03:07
this can occur after dilation and
03:09
curettage especially for retain products
03:11
of conception in the setting of
03:12
infection this causes scarring of the
03:14
endometrium the first step of treatment
03:17
is to establish the cause of amenorrhea
03:19
many physicians use the progesterone
03:22
challenge test as the first step a
03:24
patient takes oral progesterone for ten
03:26
days after stopping the progesterone if
03:29
she then has bleeding we refer to this
03:31
as a withdraw bleed for she’s
03:33
essentially withdrawing from the
03:34
progesterone therapy this tells us that
03:37
she has adequate estrogen a competent
03:39
endometrium and a Paton outflow tract if
03:42
bleeding occurs then further workup
03:44
should investigate causes like thyroid
03:46
disease hyperprolactinemia polycystic
03:49
ovarian syndrome and congenital adrenal
03:51
hyperplasia
03:52
if withdrawal bleeding does not occur
03:54
than a combined estrogen and
03:56
progesterone test can be performed to
03:58
differentiate an outflow tract
03:59
abnormality from inadequate estrogen
04:01
levels in this test estrogen is given
04:04
for 21 days then progesterone is given
04:06
for 7 to 10 days and the patient is
04:08
again evaluated for withdrawal bleed if
04:11
no bleeding occurs after this test that
04:13
an ultrasound or MRI should be performed
04:16
to look for anatomic abnormalities if
04:18
bleeding occurs after the test FSH
04:21
levels should be checked a high serum
04:23
FSH is indicative of primary ovarian
04:25
insufficiency
04:27
a karyotype should then be performed to
04:28
assess for complete or partial deletion
04:30
of the X chromosome as in Turner
04:32
syndrome treatment of amenorrhea depends
04:35
on the etiology anatomic abnormalities
04:37
such as imperforate hymen can be
04:39
surgically corrected which will allow
04:40
for menstruation and fertility a Sherman
04:42
syndrome can be treated with license of
04:44
adhesions and post-operative estrogen
04:46
therapy women with ovarian failure
04:48
should receive hormone therapy to avoid
04:50
the negative side effects of estrogen
04:52
deficiency especially for bone and heart
04:54
health hypothalamic pituitary
04:57
dysfunction can be improved by
04:59
correcting the functional cause of the
05:00
disruption the consequences of untreated
05:03
amenorrhea depend also on the underlying
05:05
etiology for women with the athletes
05:08
trier there are many issues that may
05:09
need to be addressed including
05:10
disordered eating patterns body image
05:13
issues and bone health this may involve
05:15
a multidisciplinary team with cognitive
05:17
behavioral therapy the consequences for
05:20
these women can involve long term
05:22
cardiovascular and osteoporosis risk
05:24
from years of low estrogen exposure this
05:26
concludes the aapko educational video on
05:28
amenorrhea we have discussed many of the
05:30
causes evaluation and treatment options
05:33
for this condition in women

3rd Year Medical Student Clerkship