Cytoreductive surgery for advanced ovarian cancer: cardiovascular evaluation with pulmonary artery catheters.

Twenty-three patients underwent pulmonary artery (Swan-Ganz) catheterization for hemodynamic monitoring immediately after cytoreductive surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. Seventeen patients were studied continuously for at least 24 hr to determine the postoperative hemodynamic changes; 6 patients were intermittently monitored. The mean age was 63 years, mean operating time was 4.4 hr, mean ascites volume was 2300 ml, and estimated mean blood loss was 1300 ml. The mean nadir arterial pressure was 90 mm Hg at 6 hr, rising to a maximum of 105 mm Hg at 18 hr. The mean right atrial pressure was 2.6 mm Hg at 6 hr and 7.5 mm Hg at 24 hr; and mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure nadir was 7.3 mm Hg at 6 hr and 10.7 mm Hg at 24 hr. The systemic vascular resistance zenith was 1400 dyne/sec/cm-5 at 6 hr and 860 dyne/sec/cm-5 at 24 hr. The monitoring technique permitted the early identification of myocardial infarction in two patients, both of whom had increased systemic vascular resistance and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and required dopamine to maintain arterial pressure. One patient had a pulmonary embolus, reflected by an increased right atrial pressure, decreased cardiac output, and normal pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. In all three instances, pulmonary artery catheterization facilitated prompt, early diagnosis of cardiovascular compromise and permitted early therapeutic intervention. These data document that rapid and extreme changes in the cardiovascular system occur in patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery. These changes include a rapid increase in systemic vascular resistance, a decrease in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, a reflex tachycardia, and a decrease in cardiac output; all of these changes result from an acute shift of intravascular volume to the extracellular space and a relative hypovolemia requiring active resuscitation. Pulmonary artery catheterization plays an important role in monitoring these hemodynamic changes and a predictable uniform recovery with fluid resuscitation.

Utility of laboratory studies in the emergency department patient with a new-onset seizure.

Extensive laboratory testing is often performed in the emergency department evaluation of the new-onset seizure patient. To determine the utility of such testing, a prospective study of patients with a new-onset seizure presenting to the ED of an inner-city, university-affiliated teaching hospital was done. One hundred thirty-six patients were entered into the study between October 1984 and January 1988. All patients had uniform data collection performed. Pertinent historical information and physical examination findings were recorded on a standardized form before laboratory abnormality was a sole or contributory cause of the seizure disorder. These included four patients with hypoglycemia, four with hyperglycemia, two with hypocalcemia, and one with hypomagnesemia. Only two cases (hypoglycemia) were not suspected on the basis of findings on the history or physical examination. In ED patients, the incidence of a new-onset seizure due to a correctable metabolic disturbance is low. We conclude that, with the exception of the serum glucose, the extensive ED laboratory workup often done for the evaluation of a new-onset seizure is unnecessary. Further test ordering should be directed by the medical history and physical examination.

Synchronous primary neoplasms of the female reproductive tract.

A histopathologic review of synchronous primary neoplasms of the female reproductive tract is presented. During a 30-year period, 3863 patients with female genital malignancies were accessioned to the UCLA Tumor Registry: 958 had ovarian cancer, 776 endometrial cancer, 1556 cervical cancer, and 573 other gynecologic malignancies. Twenty-six (0.7%) patients with invasive synchronous primary cancers were identified. The most frequent synchronous genital lesions were ovarian and endometrial cancers in 11 patients (0.3%). No association was documented between genital and extragenital cancers. Patients with synchronous ovarian and endometrial cancers each were low stage and low grade, and the prognosis was excellent. Their detection in a relatively early stage suggests diagnosis may be facilitated by early symptoms from the endometrial carcinoma, and that these lesions are biologically of relatively low grade. These data support the conclusion that there is an association between low-stage epithelial carcinoma of the ovary and endometrial carcinoma.

Indications for retrograde cystourethrography in trauma.

Injuries to the lower genitourinary tract may occur with penetrating or severe blunt lower abdominal trauma. Commonly associated findings are pelvic fractures and gross hematuria or a bloody urethral discharge. Retrograde cystourethrography should be performed in all cases of penetrating trauma when lower genitourinary tract injury is suspected. We recommend retrograde urethrography in male patients with a pelvic fracture or significant lower abdominal or perineal trauma without a fracture when associated with gross hematuria, a bloody urethral discharge, inability to void, swelling, ecchymosis or hematoma of the perineum or penis, or a "high-riding" or boggy prostate. Cystography should follow urethrography after a urethral injury has been excluded.

Indications for intravenous pyelography in trauma.

The cornerstone for radiographic evaluation of genitourinary trauma is intravenous pyelography (IVP). Despite its widespread use, however, the indications for emergency IVP in trauma remain controversial. Some authors recommend the use of an IVP for all patients with hematuria, while others are selective, basing their decision on the degree of hematuria or such other factors as the mechanism of injury, physical examination, or the presence of associated injuries. Based on the data reviewed for blunt and penetrating trauma, we recommend that an IVP be performed in: all patients with gross hematuria; all patients who present with pain or tenderness that could be referrable to the genitourinary tract, even in the absence of hematuria; all patients with flank hematoma or ecchymosis; and all patients with penetrating trauma that could reasonably be expected to injure the genitourinary tract. Recently computed tomography (CT) has been proposed for the evaluation of renal trauma. The CT proponents cite superior definition of the extent of renal injury and superior detection of injuries not clinically suspected. Some have proposed the following algorithm, incorporating computed tomography. If an isolated renal injury is suspected clinically, an emergency IVP is performed. If the IVP is normal, expectant conservative treatment follows. If the IVP is abnormal or if the patient has persistent symptoms, an emergency CT scan is performed. Furthermore computed tomography is performed initially in the stable patient with multiple trauma and in the patient with suspected severe renal injury. While this algorithm has not been universally accepted, future studies confirming the theoretical advantages of this approach are anticipated.

Efficacy of a "standard" seizure workup in the emergency department.

In many institutions it is the "standard of care" to obtain serum chemistries and anticonvulsant levels as part of the emergency department evaluation of seizure patients. To determine the efficacy of such a workup in the ED, 163 seizure patients presenting to an inner-city teaching hospital were studied in a standardized, prospective manner. After the clinical examination all patients had CBC, serum electrolyte, BUN, creatinine, glucose, calcium, magnesium, and if indicated, anticonvulsant drug level determinations performed. Any patient presenting with a first-time seizure (in patients greater than 6 years old), recent head trauma, focal neurologic deficit, or focal seizure activity had cranial computerized tomography (CCT). After obtaining historical and physical examination and before receiving laboratory results, as many as five likely etiologies were listed and assigned probability ratings. After review of the laboratory data (and CCT scan, if obtained), final etiologies again were listed and assigned percentages of likelihood. Significant abnormalities (ie, those that changed diagnosis, management, or disposition) were found in 104 patients; 96 had subtherapeutic anticonvulsant levels, five had abnormal CCT scans, two had hypoglycemia, and one had hyperglycemia as the cause of seizure. The clinical examination successfully predicted those abnormalities in all but two cases (one each of hyperglycemia and subdural hematoma). We contend tha routine serum chemistries in patients presenting to the ED are of extremely low yield, and that the clinical examination can predict accurately the need to obtain these studies. CCT scanning is useful in selected patients, and was found to be abnormal in five of 19 (25%) patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)