ABSTRACT
Background: Laparoscopic mesh sacrohysteropexy has been established as an effective, safe, and popular technique to treat uterine prolapse. Nevertheless, recent controversies regarding the role of synthetic mesh in pelvic reconstructive surgery have triggered a trend towards meshless procedures. Other laparoscopic native tissue prolapses techniques such as uterosacral ligament plication and sacral suture hysteropexy have been previously described in literature. Objectives: To describe a meshless minimally invasive technique with uterine preservation, which incorporates steps from the above-mentioned procedures. Materials and Methods: We present a case of a 41-year-old patient with stage II apical prolapse and stage III cystocele and rectocele, who was keen to proceed to surgical management preserving her uterus and avoiding the use of a mesh implant. The narrated video demonstrates the surgical steps of our technique of laparoscopic suture sacrohysteropexy. Main outcome measures: Objective (i.e., anatomic) and subjective (i.e., functional) surgical success on follow-up assessment at least 3 months post-surgery, similarly to every prolapse procedure. Results: Excellent anatomical result and resolution of prolapse symptoms at follow-up appointments. Conclusions: Our technique of laparoscopic suture sacrohysteropexy seems a logical progression in prolapse surgery, responding to patients' wishes for minimally invasive meshless procedures with uterine preservation while at the same time achieving excellent apical support. Its long-term efficacy and safety need to be carefully assessed before it becomes established in clinical practice. Learning objective: To demonstrate a laparoscopic uterine-sparing technique to treat uterine prolapse without the use of a permanent mesh.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an object's location in a cone beam CT imaging chamber (CBCT-NewTom 3G) on its apparent density and to develop a linear conversion coefficient for Hounsfield units (HU) to material density (g cm(-3)) for the NewTom 3G Scanner. METHODS: Three cylindrical models of materials with different densities were constructed and scanned at five different locations in a NewTom 3G Volume Scanner. The average HU value for each model at each location was obtained using two different types of software. Next, five cylinders of different known densities were scanned at the exact centre of a NewTom 3G Scanner. The collected data were analysed using the same two types of software to determine a standard linear relationship between density and HU for each type of software. RESULTS: There is no statistical significance of location of an object within the CBCT scanner on determination of its density. A linear relationship between the density of an object and the HU of a scan was rho = 0.001(HU)+1.19 with an R2 value of 0.893 (where density, rho, is measured in g cm(-3)). This equation is to be used on a range between 1.42 g cm(-3) and 0.4456 g cm(-3). CONCLUSIONS: A linear relationship can be used to determine the density of materials (in the density range of bone) from the HU values of a CBCT scan. This relationship is not affected by the object's location within the scanner itself.
