Diagnostic accuracy of hand-assisted laparoscopy in predicting resectability of peritoneal carcinomatosis from gynecological malignancies.

OBJECTIVES: Residual disease after excision surgery is the main prognostic factor in advanced ovarian cancer. Open surgery can delay neoadjuvant chemotherapy initiation. Therefore, a minimally invasive method for evaluating resectability would be of great interest. Aim of our study is to evaluate a new technique for assessing the extent of peritoneal carcinomatosis, combining manual palpation and standard laparoscopy. METHODS: Prospective single-center study from October 2008 to January 2010. Patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from gynecological malignancies were investigated by standard laparoscopy followed by laparoscopy plus manual palpation using Lapdisc(®) (Ethicon Inc.), at 43 abdominopelvic sites. When both techniques indicated resectability, standard cytoreduction surgery was performed via a midline laparotomy. The Fagotti, modified Fagotti, and Sugarbaker scores were computed. The diagnostic performance of each evaluation criterion was assessed by computing sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (ROC-AUCs). RESULTS: Of the 29 included patients, 18 (62.1%) were considered to have resectable disease. Fourteen (14/18, 77.8%) had macroscopically complete cytoreduction. With Lapdisc(®), sensitivity was 100%, specificity 73.3%, PPV 77.8%, NPV 100%, and ROC-AUC 0.87. Corresponding values were as follows: laparoscopy, 100%, 40%, 60.9%, 100%, and 0.70; Fagotti and modified Fagotti scores, 100%, 46.7%, 63.6%, 100%, and 0.73; Sugarbaker score, 64.3%, 93.3%, 90%, 73.7%, and 0.79. The ROC-AUCs showed significantly better performance of Lapdisc(®) than of standard laparoscopy (P = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Hand-assisted laparoscopy may perform better than laparoscopy alone for predicting the resectability of peritoneal carcinomatosis by increasing the number of sites evaluated.

Complications of lymphadenectomy for gynecologic cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Symptomatic postoperative lymphocysts (SPOLs) and lower-limb lymphedema (LLL) are probably underestimated complications of lymphadenectomy for gynecologic malignancies. Here, our objective was to evaluate the incidence and risk factors of SPOLs and LLL after pelvic and/or aortocaval lymphadenectomy for gynecologic malignancies. METHODS: Single-center retrospective study of consecutive patients who underwent pelvic and/or aortocaval lymphadenectomy for ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, or cervical cancer between January 2007 and November 2008. The incidences of SPOL and LLL were computed with their 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs). Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent risk factors for SPOL and LLL. RESULTS: We identified 88 patients including 36 with ovarian cancer, 35 with endometrial cancer, and 17 with cervical cancer. The overall incidence of SPOL was 34.5% (95%CI, 25-45) and that of LLL was 11.4% (95% confidence interval [95%CI], 5-18). Endometrial cancer was independently associated with a lower risk of SPOL (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.09; 95%CI, 0.02-0.44) and one or more positive pelvic nodes with a higher risk of SPOL (aOR, 4.4; 95%CI, 1.2-16.3). Multivariate logistic regression failed to identify factors significantly associated with LLL. CONCLUSION: Complications of lymphadenectomy for gynecologic malignancies are common. This finding supports a more restrictive use of lymphadenectomy or the use of less invasive techniques such as sentinel node biopsy.

[Sentinel lymph node procedure and uterine cancers]. / Procédure du ganglion sentinelle et cancers utérins.

Lymph node metastases in cervical and endometrial cancer are major prognostic factors. Lymph-nodal involvement determines adjuvant therapy. As imagery is not reliable to diagnose lymph node status, pelvic +/- para-aortic lymphadenectomy remains the gold standard. These surgical procedures are, however, responsible for specific morbidity: lymphocele and lymphedema. Sentinel lymph node procedure could avoid lymphadenectomy and their complications in cervical and endometrial cancer with good negative predictive values. We present actual indications, procedure and results of sentinel lymph node procedures in cervical and endometrial cancer.

[Orbital epidermoid cyst. Case report]. / Kyste épidermoïde intraorbitaire. A propos d'un cas.

Epidermoid tumors represent 1% of all primary intracranial tumors. Most of them occur intradurally in cerebellopontine angle and parasellar citerns. The intra-orbital location accounts for 4 to 5% of all primary intra-orbital tumors. We report the case of a 23-year-old girl with progressive right proptosis who had developed 6 months earlier. The tumor was removed via an external orbitotomy approach. Histology confirmed the diagnosis.