The surgical outcomes of abdominal radical trachelectomy: does transrectal ultrasonography determine the cervical incision site during surgery?

PURPOSE: To evaluate the surgical outcomes of abdominal radical trachelectomy(ART) and the efficacy of transrectal ultrasonography in determining the upper end of cervical incision during this operation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ART was performed in five patients with early-stage cervical cancer in the present clinic. In the first three patients, uterine corpus was transacted blindly at a level of approximately five mm below the internal os. In the last two patients, the authors performed transrectal ultrasonography before vaginal incision to evaluate the distance between upper margin of tumoral mass and internal os of cervical canal. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 21 months. During this period, menstrual abnormality occurred in three patients. The two patients in which transrectal ultrasonographies were taken intraoperatively had 9- and 12-mm postoperative cervical canal length and both of them were asymptomatic postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: ART is usually associated with menstrual abnormality at late postoperative period and transrectal ultrasonograph during this procedure may decrease postoperative morbidity.

A study of semen parameters with emphasis on sperm morphology in a fertile population: an attempt to develop clinical thresholds.

The aim of the study was to determine the semen parameters of a proven fertile population and to compare these parameters with that of a subfertile group in the same region. Sixty-nine fertile male patients were studied and compared with 93 patients recruited at an infertility clinic. A sub-sample of patients was matched according to age. Sixty-one were studied in the fertile group and 62 in the infertile group. Receiver operator characteristics analysis was done on the sub-sample. The threshold value of the progressive motility was 42% and it was the best parameter with sperm morphology to distinguish between the two groups. At 69% sensitivity and 67% specificity the sperm morphology threshold was 12% normal forms. If the positive and negative predictive value was used to screen the general population to identify the subfertile group, a 5% normal morphology threshold was indicated with 14% progressive motility, 30% motility and a concentration of 9x10(6)/ml or lower. The negative predictive values of the parameters were good and achieved 90% in most cases. The sensitivity of the semen parameters at the reported thresholds was poor and indicated a large overlap in the distributions of these variables in the fertile and infertile groups. To distinguish between the fertile and subfertile population, the most significant finding of this study was the progressive motility with a threshold level of 14%. The cut-off value of the sperm morphology (5%) in vivo was consistent with the previous publications in assisted reproduction programmes for sperm morphology.

Reproductive tract pathology in asymptomatic women treated with tamoxifen.

PURPOSE: To determine the long-term effects of tamoxifen on the female reproductive tract in patients with breast cancer. METHODS: Forty-nine patients with breast cancer receiving tamoxifen longer than two years were analyzed. All the patients underwent pelvic examination, pap smear, transvaginal ultrasonography, serum CA 125 and dilatation and curettage. RESULTS: There were 16 patients with genital system pathology. Three of them had atypical Pap smears, one with cervical carcinoma and the other two with chronic cervicitis. Two significant ovarian pathologies were found. These were ovarian fibroma, and unilateral dermoid cyst. There were three patients with endometrial hyperplasia without atypia. Uterine myoma was encountered in seven of the cases. Only one patient had elevated CA 125 levels despite normal genital examination findings. CONCLUSION: Since no significant genital pathology attributable to tamoxifen therapy could be detected, the follow-up for gynecologic pathologies in breast cancer patients receiving tamoxifen therapy may be individualized.

Rh disease: intrauterine intravascular fetal blood transfusion by cordocentesis.

A total of 49 cordocenteses, including 40 intrauterine intravascular fetal blood tranasfusions, were performed in 30 pregnancies complicated by red cell isoimmunization. Transfusions were started at 19-33 weeks' gestation and repeated up to five times, at one-to-four week intervals. The volumes of transfused blood were 20-110 ml, hematocrits were 58-82 percent and the rate of transfusions was 1-15 ml/min. The pretransfusion fetal hemoglobins were 3.5-11.6 g/dl and the posttransfusion fetal hemoglobins were 7.5-15.6 g/dl. There were three intrauterine deaths and two neonatal deaths. The overall survival rate was 83.3 percent including all cordocenteses. The survival rate for the intrauterine transfusions was 81 percent.

A comparative study of the effects of thrombin and electrodesiccation used for haemostasis on inflammation and adhesion formation.

Electrodesiccation or chemical agents, such as thrombin and fibrin sealant, may be used to control oozing in the peritoneal cavity. Electrodesiccation is time consuming and associated with adjacent thermal damage. Adhesion formation remains a concern with the use of thrombin and fibrin sealant. In this study, adhesion formation and various histological parameters of inflammation were evaluated following haemostasis with electromicrodesiccation or thrombin in the rabbit model (n = 36). Following laparotomy, the right uterine horn was subjected to a measured injury producing sufficient oozing. After the injury was effected, the animals were randomized to haemostasis with electromicrodesiccation (n = 18) or thrombin (n = 18). In the first phase of the study, the histological parameters of acute injury and haemostasis with either modality were evaluated in two animals in each group. In the second phase, one, two and 10 animals, in each group, were submitted to second-look laparotomy on post-operative days 2, 7, and 15, respectively and the type and extent of adhesions were quantified. Histological parameters of inflammation as well as the type and extent of adhesions were comparable between the two groups. We conclude that local application of thrombin is not associated with a statistically greater degree of post-operative adhesions when compared to electromicrodesiccation.