Epithelioid Trophoblastic Tumor in a Postmenopausal Woman: A Case Report

Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT) is a rare gestational trophoblastic neoplasm composed of intermediate trophoblasts. Most cases of ETT are reported in women of reproductive age following a prior gestation within 2 weeks to 30 years. ETT is extremely rare in postmenopausal women. It is commonly misdiagnosed as a poorly differentiated carcinoma or another type of gestational trophoblastic tumor. We report a case of ETT in a 56-year-old woman that developed 23 years after the patient's last pregnancy.

Superficial Angiomyxoma of the Vulva in a Postmenopausal Woman: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Superficial angiomyxomas (SAMs) are rare benign cutaneous tumors that involve the subcutaneous layer. They are commonly located in the trunk, lower limbs and head or neck of women of reproductive age. SAMs in the vulva of postmenopausal women are especially rare case. Herein, we report a vulvar SAM in a postmenopausal 60-year-old woman. The patient presented with a palpable cutaneous mass in the right labium majora that had appeared 3 months earlier. The mass was slow growing and approximately 5 cm in size and resembled a soft tissue malignancy. It appeared as a well-defined multilocular cystic mass in magnetic resonance images. The preoperative diagnosis was a benign cystic lesion such as an epidermoid cyst. Grossly, the completely excised mass was 6 × 5 cm in size and well circumscribed with a multilocular outer surface, a yellowish-gray gelatinous cut surface, and a smooth rubbery inner surface. Histologic review revealed that the mass contained small to moderate amount of cellular angiomyxoid nodules and bland-looking spindle-shaped to ovoid cells without atypia. Neutrophil infiltration, which is a diagnostic feature of SAMs, was observed. Immunohistochemistry showed expression of CD34, but not of estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, or desmin in the SAM. The patient has been followed up for 12 months without recurrence.

Postmenopausal Meigs' Syndrome in Elevated CA-125: A Case Report

Meigs' syndrome is a benign ovarian tumor associated with ascites and pleural effusion. Elevated cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) in Meigs' syndrome is an unusual clinical condition reported in few cases. We report here on a 61-year-old woman who presented with dyspnea; in imaging assessment, a heterogeneous pelvic mass measuring 12 x 11 cm with ascitic fluid was reported. Pleural effusion was detected on Chest X-ray. Aspiration of pleural fluid showed no evidence of malignancy. CA-125 level was 347 IU/mL. The patient underwent laparotomy during which a mass measuring 12 x 11 cm was detected in her left adnexa. Histology showed ovarian thecoma. The mass was resected, and, after that, the symptoms disappeared and CA-125 level reached 19 IU/mL. The patient had experienced no problem after 12 months of follow up. Although postmenopausal women with ovarian tumor, ascites, pleural effusion, and elevation of CA-125 levels probably have malignant ovarian tumors, Meigs' syndrome must be considered in the differential diagnosis.

Uterine Lipoleiomyoma in Peri or Postmenopausal Women

Lipoleiomyoma is an uncommon neoplasm of the uterus, composed of smooth muscles intermixed with mature adipocytes. These tumors are considered a benign variant of uterine leiomyomas. Herein, we report six cases of lipoleiomyoma experienced in our institution from January 2005 to March 2015. The patients ranged in age from 45 to 70 years; the etiology may be related to estrogen deficiency occurring after menopausal transition. Except for one lipoleiomyoma in the broad ligament, all others were found in the uterine corpus. The presenting symptoms were nonspecific, and most cases were incidentally diagnosed during surgery for other reasons. We performed preoperative imaging studies, including abdominal and pelvic computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Preoperatively, four patients were diagnosed as having a pelvic mass and one patient was diagnosed as having a right ovarian mature teratoma. In one case, we found a gynecologic malignancy (cervical cancer 1A1). Histologically, there was no gross or microscopic contiguity between the lipoleiomyoma and the malignancy. Lipoleiomyomas seem to have a benign clinical course. In our study, there were no recurrences of or deaths attributed to the lipoleiomyomas during a mean follow-up period of 16.17 +/- 23.80 months.

Retroperitoneal vascular anomalies in paraaortic region: Impact on laparoscopic paraaortic lymphadenectomy in patients with gynecologic malignancies / 대한산부인과내시경학회지

OBJECTIVE: To document our experience of the vascular anomalies or variants in paraaortic region and intend to increase vigilance among the gynecological surgeons for presence of variable vascular anomalies or variants. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of 280 patients with various gynecologic malignancies who had undergone systemic laparotomic or laparoscopic paraaortic lymphadenectomy between November 2003 and July 2011. RESULTS: We discovered total nine patients of vascular anomalies during the surgery. Seven patients had an accessory polar renal artery. One patient had a duplicated inferior vena cava and the other had a right paravertebral vein. There were no vascular complications such as tearing, ligation or transection. CONCLUSION: It is not uncommon to encounter vascular anomalies in paraaortic region during the lymphadenectomy. Hence, the gynecological surgeons must be cognizant of various vascular anomalies occurring within this area to reduce the vascular accidents.

The clinical efficacy of single - dose methotrexate in unruptured tubal pregnancy / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVES: The early detection of ectopic tubal pregnancy in unruptured state is increased as the transvaginal sonography and sensitive serum hCG test are available. For this unruptured tubal pregnancy, the medical treatment using methotrexate via various routes and dosage is being tried. Our study was to evaluate the efficacy of single systemic injection of methotrexate in the treatment of unruptured tubal pregnancies. Material and METHODS: From the January 1997 to July 1999, of 152 ectopic pregnancy patients, 22 patients who were diagnosed as unruptured tubal pregnancies were treated with single-dose systemic methotrexate injection (50 mg/m2/IM). Exclusion criteria were unstable vital signs with hemoperitoneum, adnexal mass > 5-6 cm. Serum hCG titers were checked before injection and 4, 7 day after injection. If serum hCG titer declined more than 15% on 7 day after injection compared with titer on 4 day, the weekly hCG titer was followed until it was <10 mIU/ml .If the hCG titer did not decline more than 15 %, a second dose was given. If hCG titer was not decreased or vital signs became unstable after 1-2 injections, the treatment was considered failure and surgery was done. RESULTS: 18 cases (82%) of 22 were successfully treated with single-dose methotrexate. The mean size of ectopic mass and initial serum hCG titers were 2.7+/-1.3 cm (range, 1.5-5.4 cm) and 3,298+/-1,007 mIU/ml (range, 132-12,239), respectively. Of 22, 6 cases (28%) needed second dose of methotrexate. The mean time to resolution of serum beta-hCG titer was 27.5+/-13.6 days (range, 8-53 days). Elevation of liver enzyme did not occurred in all cases during treatment. Initial hCG titer was more important prognostic factor than ectopic mass size for successful medical treatment. CONCLUSION: Single-dose methotrexate appears to be an effective medical treatment for the unruptured tubal pregnancy. However, patients selection using strict criteria is needed to increase its success rate.

A case of water birth / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Recently, water birth - labor and/or delivery under warm water - is acceptable and natural to many foreign countries as a method of gentle birth. Although some limitations after water birth were reported, a recent international conference explored many of the issuses and indicated the potential scale and the advantages for its inclusion among the options for labor and delivery under water. We experienced a case of water birth who underwent labor and delivery under water. She delivered normal healthy female baby without conventional episiotomy. No obstetrical ans fetal complications were observed during entire procedure of water birth. So, we report this case with brief review of the literatures.

A Study on the Leukopenia during Chemotherapy in Patients with Gynecologic Malignancies / 대한부인종양콜포스코피학회잡지

The recent introduction of chemotherapy in the treatment of the gynecologic malignancies has gained wide acceptance along with preoperative and postoperative adjuvant therapy and with preradiation and concurrent chemoradiaton therapy. But, the side effects of chemotherapy including bleeding and infection due to bone marrow suppression have resulted in increased morbidity and mortality of the patients and delayed treatment and a reduction in the chemotherapeutic agents used. In spite of the development of antibiotics and the supportive care of infection, sustained leukopenia in the patients during chemotherapy accounts for the high mortality rate due to sepsis. The early detection of the leukopenia during chemotherapy may enable clinicians to overcome infection problems by timely use of prophylactic broad spectrum antibiotics and G-CSF or GM-CSF. The author investigated the grade, duration, time of onset and other clinical features of the leukopenia and the effects of the age (> or =60 years vs or =3 cycles vs or =60 years, n=13) and younger patients ( <60 years, n=66) about the severity, duration and time of onset of leukopenia. 4. No significant difference was found between the patients with more than 3 cycles of chemotherapy (n=40) and less than 3 cycles (n=39) about the severity, duration and time of onset of leukopenia. 5. Febrile leukopenic cases (n=6) had significantly lower granulocyte count, longer leukopenic period and earlier onset of leukopenia than afebrile (n=73). 6. It is thought that performance status scale does not affect the grade of leukopenia, onset of leukopenia and the leukopenic period.

Computerized analysis of fetal heart rate after acoustic stimulation / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study is to compare the differences of fetal heart rate (FHR) variables between preterm and term pregnancies after acoustic stimulation using computerized analysis of fetal heart rate. METHODS: Eighty-two normal pre-term and term pregnancies entered to this study after conventional 20-minutes nonstress test(NST) and 10-minutes acoustic stimulation test (AST). Acoustic stimulations were performed using Fetal Acoustic Stimulator (Model 146, Corometrics, US). We analyzed the FHR response after acoustic stimulation using our on-line computerized FHR analysis system, HYFM-I & II software. The changes of loss of signal, baseline FHR, variability, number of fetal movements, and number of FHR accelerations were analyzed numerically. RESULT: The mean baseline FHR was increased in term pregnancies from 141+/-7.0bpm to 152.7+/-9.7bpm, and in preterm pregnancies from 144.6+/-6.8bpm to 156.8+/-10.2bpm, respectively. The mean baseline FHR was significantly increased in both term and preterm pregnancies (p<0.01. paired t-test). The variability of FHR was increased in term pregnancies from 18.2+/-6.4bpm to 22.6+/-5.0bpm and in preterm pregnancies from 17.8+/-5.5bpm to 22.7+/-5.9bpm, respectively. The variability of FHR was also significantly increased in both term and preterm pregnancies. (p<0.01. paired t-test) CONCLUSION: The mean baseline FHR and the variability of FHR was significantly increased both preterm and term pregnancies. But the difference of each FHR variables between preterm pregnancies and term pregnancies was not statistically significant in this study.