His and Her Health

NVA Funds First Vulvodynia Treatment Registry


Thanks to the generosity of a longtime donor, we are pleased to announce that NVA will award Drs. Georgine Lamvu, Denniz Zolnoun and Lori Boardman a grant to develop and implement the first-ever Vulvodynia Treatment Registry. This multi-site Registry, to be launched in fall 2009, will study the efficacy of multiple treatments. The treatments to be studied include, but are not limited to, topical medications (e.g., lidocaine, gabapentin); oral "pain-blocking" medications (e.g., tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants and muscle relaxants); physical therapy; and surgery. Women receiving medical care at the University of North Carolina, University of Central Florida and Florida Hospital will be eligible to participate in the Registry.

Upon enrollment, participants will undergo a thorough medical evaluation and tests to assess vestibular skin and pelvic muscle sensitivity. They will also complete several questionnaires on pain, sexual function and quality of life. All tests and questionnaires will be administered multiple times during a two-year period to assess the long-term benefit of treatment. In addition to determining which treatments are effective, we hope that data collected through the Registry will clarify why only some women benefit from a particular treatment and identify factors that can predict treatment success in different subgroups of vulvodynia patients. Additionally, the Registry's findings will help guide the development of controlled treatment trials, which have been lacking in the vulvodynia field.


About the Investigators

Georgine Lamvu,
MD, MPH, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Florida State University, directs the gynecology unit at Florida Hospital in Orlando and supervises the hospital's surgical outcome database. Additionally, she serves as Director of the Florida Hospital Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic, which provides medical care to 2000 women with chronic pelvic or urogenital pain disorders annually. Dr. Lamvu completed her fellowship in advanced laparoscopy and pelvic pain at the University of North Carolina, where she supervised the chronic pelvic pain database evaluating surgical and medical outcomes in women with chronic pelvic pain. Her research and clinical experience will make her an exceptional Director of the Registry project.

Denniz Zolnoun, MD, MPH, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and Director of the Vulvar Pain Clinic at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, provides medical care to many women with vulvodynia. In 2003, she was the recipient of the prestigious BIRCWH Scholarship (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health). In 2006, she received a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to refine diagnostic criteria for vulvar vestibulitis syndrome by studying vulvar skin and pelvic muscle sensitivity. Her research and clinical expertise make her well-qualified to serve as an advisor on muscle and skin measurements, as well as data collection.

Lori Boardman, MD, ScM, is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando. Her clinical practice is located within the University's Student Health Services, which is used by 9,000 women annually. Dr. Boardman previously served as the Director of the Vulvar and Colposcopy Clinics at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. She was also a recipient of the Mentored Investigator Award in Women's Health from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Boardman will serve as advisor in research methodology and data analysis. Her clinical expertise will also be invaluable to the project.







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