Catamenial hemoptysis accompanied by subcutaneous endometriosis treated with combination therapy

Extra pelvic endometriosis is considered to be rare. This paper reports a case of catamenial hemoptysis accompanied by subcutaneous endometriosis in 26-year-old woman. A computed tomography scan of the chest revealed a focal ground-glass opacity lesion in the posterior segment of the right upper lobe. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of endometriosis of right lung and concurrent subcutaneous endometriosis. She was treated with surgical resection of the endometriosis lesions on two different sites and perioperative gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist therapy. The 6-month follow-up after combination treatment showed no recurrence. Though long-term follow-up result is needed, aggressive treatment using combination treatment (surgery and perioperative medication) should be considered for symptomatic extra pelvic endometriosis.

Perioperative administration of propranolol to women undergoing ovarian cancer surgery: A pilot study

OBJECTIVE: This study was done to evaluate whether perioperative propranolol (ß-blocker) in ovarian cancer patients undergoing debulking surgery reduced perioperative tumor growth induced by surgical stress. METHODS: This was a prospective randomized single institution analysis. The primary objective was to compare the changes in CA 125 level (changes between preoperation day 2 and postoperative day 7). As a study arm, patients received a low dose of propranolol 40 mg/day (4×10 mg) starting two days before surgery and 40 mg twice daily for three days following surgery. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were enrolled and 16 were evaluable for efficacy. The drug was well tolerated. The mean decrease of CA 125 during the seven perioperative days was 83.1±8.9% in the propranolol group and 72.4±14.7% in the placebo group. The difference was statistically significant (P=0.044). The change of C-reactive protein, cortisol, and anxiety score (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-X1) were not different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: This preliminary result is the first to directly test the role of perioperative propranolol on tumor growth. Even with the small sample size and short term use of the drug, perioperative propranolol was effective in reducing tumor burden (as measured by CA 125) suggesting its potential benefits in decreasing perioperative tumor growth.

Clinical outcomes and neurodevelopmental outcome of prenatally diagnosed agenesis of corpus callosum in single center of Korea

OBJECTIVE: With recent advances and frequent use of prenatal ultrasound, the antenatal diagnosis of agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is not rare in obstetrics practices. However, information regarding the long-term neurological outcome remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate clinical outcomes of prenatally diagnosed ACC and to analyze postnatal neurodevelopmental outcomes of ACC neonates born in our single center. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 56 cases of prenatally suspected ACC referred to our center. RESULTS: Fifty-six fetuses were diagnosed with ACC, and 12 of those were followed-up in our center until delivery. Of the remaining 44, 7 were delivered after being referred back to the original hospital, 23 were lost to follow-up, and 14 had unknown outcomes. Among all 56, 29 were considered to have isolated ACC and 27 were considered to have non-isolated ACC. Of the 10 live fetuses delivered in our center, four had isolated ACC, three had non-isolated ACC, and the rest had outcomes unrelated to ACC. Neurodevelopmental outcome was followed-up until approximately age 3 years. Of the four with isolated ACC, three (75%) had normal neurodevelopmental outcomes. CONCLUSION: Similar to other studies, the results of our single-center study included positive neurodevelopmental outcomes for those with isolated ACC. However, despite our endeavor to counsel patients with prenatally diagnosed ACC, the delivery rate in our center was quite low. Therefore, larger, multicenter, retrospective studies including long-term neurological development outcomes are crucial and urgently needed to provide better counseling.