Health Guide

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Article Content:

Primary amenorrhea can be defined as amenorrhea (menstruation fail to start) at the age of 16 years or amenorrhea at the age of 14 years in presence of well developed secondary sex characters. There are many causes of primary pathological amenorrhea and they are illustrated below:

1. Primary pathological amenorrhea can be there in presence of congenital obstruction of lower genital tract like non canalization of cervix, vagina and imperforate hymen that leads to cryptomenorrhea (occurrence of menstrual symptom without external bleeding). Cryptomenorrhea is not actual primary amenorrhea as the patient is actually menstruating without external visible bleeding.
2. Congenital absence of uterus and gross hypoplasia of uterus can cause amenorrhea.
3. In Turner’s syndrome due to congenital aplasia of ovaries (streak ovary).
4. Inter sexuality like pseudohermaphroditism can cause pathological primary amenorrhea.
5. Hypothyroid cretinism, hypopituitary dwarfism and hypothalamic gonadotropin releasing hormone deficiency cause primary pathological amenorrhea.
6. Organic brain lesions like brain tumors and infection in the brain can lead to primary amenorrhea.
7. Some times delayed puberty is cause of primary amenorrhea.
8. Kallman syndrome, Rokitansky-Hauser-Kuster symdrome etc can cause primary pathological amenorrhea.

All these are causes of primary pathological amenorrhea.

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