Single-port access laparoscopy-assisted vaginal hysterectomy: our initial experiences with 100 cases.

Objectives. To present our initial experiences with laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy performed using homemade transumbilical single-port system. Materials and Methods. We reviewed the medical records of one hundred patients who underwent single-port access laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (SPA-LAVH). SPA-LAVH was performed with homemade single port system and conventional rigid laparoscopic instruments. Results. All procedures were successfully completed through the single-port system and vagina without need for extraumbilical puncture or conversion to laparotomy. The median patient age was 48.2 ± 6.5 years. Thirty-three patients had history of past abdominopelvic surgery. The median total operative time, largest dimension of the uterus, and weight of the uterus were 73.1 ± 24.6 min, 10.5 ± 2.1 cm, and 300.8 ± 192.5 gram, respectively. The median decline in the hemoglobin from before surgery to postoperative day 1 was 1.8 ± 0.9 g/dL. Bladder injury in occurred one patient who was repaired through intraoperative laparoscopic suture. The postoperative course was uneventful in most patients except for three who had a transient paralytic ileus, five who had pelvic hematoma, but they were recovered following conservative managements. No port-related complications were noted, and the cosmetic results were excellent. Conclusions. SPA-LAVH is technically safe procedure, and the homemade single-port system offers reliable access for single-port surgery.

Laparoscopic cornuotomy using a temporary tourniquet suture and diluted vasopressin injection in interstitial pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficiency of laparoscopic cornuotomy. DESIGN: Retrospective case review. SETTING: An urban medical center. PATIENT(S): Eight patients with interstitial pregnancy who have undergone laparoscopic cornuotomy. INTERVENTION(S): Laparoscopic cornuotomy was performed using a temporary tourniquet suture and the injection of diluted vasopressin around the cornual mass. The tourniquet suture was removed completely after repairing the cornu. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Operating time, hemorrhage, beta-hCG levels. RESULT(S): The estimated blood loss was 50 +/- 22 mL (mean +/- SD), and the operating time was 58 +/- 16 minutes. The serum beta-hCG level returned to within the normal range approximately 4 weeks postoperatively in all patients. There were no major postoperative complications, such as hemorrhage, and no postoperative adjuvant therapy was required. CONCLUSION(S): Laparoscopic cornuotomy is a safe and effective method in interstitial pregnancy, and we believe that it has the advantage of preserving reproductive capacity over cornual resection.

SNP@Promoter: a database of human SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) within the putative promoter regions.

BACKGROUND: Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is becoming a key research in genomics fields. Many functional analyses of SNPs have been carried out for coding regions and splicing sites that can alter proteins and mRNA splicing. However, SNPs in non-coding regulatory regions can also influence important biological regulation. Presently, there are few databases for SNPs in non-coding regulatory regions. DESCRIPTION: We identified 488,452 human SNPs in the putative promoter regions that extended from the +5000 bp to -500 bp region of the transcription start sites. Some SNPs occurring in transcription factor (TF) binding sites were also predicted (47,832 SNP; 9.8%). The result is stored in a database: SNP@promoter. Users can search the SNP@Promoter database using three entries: 1) by SNP identifier (rs number from dbSNP), 2) by gene (gene name, gene symbol, refSeq ID), and 3) by disease term. The SNP@Promoter database provides extensive genetic information and graphical views of queried terms. CONCLUSION: We present the SNP@Promoter database. It was created in order to predict functional SNPs in putative promoter regions and predicted transcription factor binding sites. SNP@Promoter will help researchers to identify functional SNPs in non-coding regions.

The mitochondrial genome of the smaller tea tortrix Adoxophyes honmai (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

Almost complete mitochondrial genome from a representative of an insect order Lepidoptera, the smaller tea tortrix Adoxophyes honmai was determined. The 15,680 bp long A. honmai genome encodes 13 putative proteins, two ribosomal RNAs and 22 tRNAs. The nucleotide sequences of A. honmai mitochondrial DNA have been compared with those of five species from the Lepidoptera and insects in the other orders that are available in the databases. The orientation and gene order of A. honmai is almost same to that of other insects with a few minor exceptions in the order of tRNAs and distribution of non-coding regions. Nucleotide composition, amino acid composition and codon usage are in the range of values estimated from other insect mitogenomes. In AT rich region of A. honmai, tandem reiterations are observed with repeats of TAA. In a preliminary phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated 7 protein coding genes, A. honmai, an apoditrysian tortricid moth joined basally within the monophyly of Lepidoptera, supporting its relationship with other more derived species including obtectomeran Ostrinia species.