Structural causes Nonstructural causes

Polyp (AUB-P) Coagulopathy (AUB-C)

Adenomyosis (AUB-A) Ovulatory dysfunction (AUB-O)
Leiomyoma (AUB-L) Endometrial (AUB-E)
Malignancy and hyperplasia (AUB-M) Iatrogenic (AUB-I)
Not yet identified (AUB-N)

Anatomy of the uterus and the ovaries:

The uterus is a hollow pyriform muscular organ situated in the pelvis between the

bladder in the front and rectum behind. The uterus consists of the uterine body or the corpus,

isthmus and cervix. The body is the upper part of the uterus that is divided into the fundus

and body proper. The fundus lies above the opening of the uterine tubes. The body proper lies

between the openings of the uterine tube and the isthmus. Isthmus is the constricted part that

lies between the body and cervix. The lower most part of the uterus is the cervix. At birth, the

cervix is larger than the body. In childhood, the proportion is reduced to 2:1. At puberty, due

to the action of the ovarian steroids, the body grows faster and the proportion is reversed to

1:2. Following child birth, the ratio becomes 1:3 and after menopause, the uterus atrophies

and the overall length is reduced.

The body of the uterus is made up of 3 layers from outside inwards, the outer

perimetrium, forming the serous coat which invests the entire organ except on the lateral

borders, the myometrium in the middle consisting of thick bundles of smooth muscle fibers

held by connective tissues and arranged in various directions, and the innermost

endometrium, which is the mucous layer of the uterine cavity. The endometrium consists of

lamina propria which contains stromal cells, endometrial glands, vessels and nerves and

surface epithelium lined by single layer of ciliated columnar epithelium. It is devoid of

submucous layer. The glands are simple tubular lined by mucus secreting non-ciliated

columnar epithelium which penetrate the stroma and sometimes even the muscle coat. All

these components undergo cyclical changes during the menstrual cycle.