Le Fort colpocleisis: An evaluation of results and quality of life at intermediate-term follow-up.

OBJECTIVES: To assess postoperative complications, intermediate-term anatomic and subjective success rates, and quality of life following obliterative Le Fort colpocleisis (LFC) for advanced pelvic organ prolapse (POP). STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective cohort study with 53 subjects who underwent LFC surgery between January 2012 and April 2019. Demographic and treatment data were retrieved from a hospital database. Data on postoperative anatomic results were gathered from individual examinations of study subjects. The Clavien-Dindo classification was used to evaluate the complications. The Prolapse-Quality of Life (P-QoL) questionnaire was administered in person or over the telephone before and after the operation. Low scores on the P-QoL reflect a high quality of life. RESULTS: The mean age at operation was 73 ± 7.1 years. The mean time between LFC and the postoperative questionnaire and interview was 30.8 ± 15.7 months (range: 12-82). Ninety-two percent of subjects had at least one comorbidity. When subjects were classified using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) Quantification System, seven (13.2 %) had Stage 3 POP and 46 (86.8 %) had Stage 4 POP. The overall rate of minor peri-operative complications rate was 11.3 % (six subjects). The objective success rate of LFC at intermediate-term follow-up was 98.1 %, and the subjective success rate was 96.2 %. The mean time between LFC and the postoperative questionnaire and interview was 30.8 ± 15.7 months (range: 12-82). There was a statistically significant decrease in the postoperative P-QoL score (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Based on positive intermediate-term anatomic and subjective outcomes, including a significant decrease in P-QoL questionnaire scores and a lack of regret, obliterative LFC should be considered a first-choice procedure for elderly and sexually inactive women with advanced POP.

Urodynamic assessment of short-term effects of pelvic radiotherapy on bladder function in patients with gynecologic cancers.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the short-term effects of adjuvant or primary curative radiotherapy (RT) on the urinary system in women with gynecologic cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a prospective, concurrent cohort study including 55 patients with gynecologic cancer who were divided into three groups. Group 1 included 10 patients who were administered adjuvant RT following a radical hysterectomy (RH); Group 2 included 36 patients who were administered adjuvant RT following a type 1 hysterectomy and Group 3 included 9 patients who were administered primary curative RT. Urogynecologic assessments were carried out on patients before and six months after the treatment. RESULTS: Compared to pretreatment, no significant differences were observed in any of the three groups after treatment in terms of incontinence, first urge to urinate, normal urge to urinate, severe urge to urinate and changes in residual urine volumes. There was a significant decrease in maximal vesical pressure after treatment in Group 1 and Group 3. The maxi-mum detrusor pressure decreased significantly in Group 1. The post-treatment decline in bladder capacity in Group 1 and Group 2 was also significant. CONCLUSIONS: RH and pelvic RT cause lower urinary system dysfunction. Especially patients who receive primary curative RT and patients who are administered RT after RH, where more pelvic denervation occurs, are at higher risk due to high doses of RT.

Urinary Incontinence in Puberty: A Rare Clinical Presentation of the Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: We report on an unusual presentation of Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome in two 11-year-old girls within a year of menarche. The setting was a training and research hospital. CASE: We present two patients in the pubertal period with cyclic abdominal pain and urinary incontinence who received hysteroscopic septal resection. Menstrual flow was resumed and the complaints of incontinence were eliminated after the hysteroscopic resection of the vaginal septum. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: Overflow incontinence was completely resolved after septum resection in two patients. The risk of stricture is high in Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome if the septum is partially excised to open the obstruction, whereas the risk of stricture is low if a complete or wide excision is performed. In the presence of abdominal pain and urinary incontinence in puberty, Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome must be considered in the differential diagnosis, and a detailed evaluation of the urinary system and pelvic anatomy must be performed.

Methotrexate treatment in progressive tubal ectopic pregnancies and hCG-related clinicosurgical implications.

Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between the success of methotrexate treatment and ß-hCG levels in progressive tubal ectopic pregnancies. We defined a retrospective cohort of 394 progressive tubal ectopic pregnancy patients treated with methotrexate. A single-dose methotrexate protocol using 50 mg/m(2) was administered to patients with progressive tubal ectopic pregnancy. Surgery was performed in patients who exhibited signs of acute abdomen due to tubal rupture. Of 394 patients that received methotrexate treatment, 335 (84.6%) responded to medical treatment, while the remaining 59 (15.36%) underwent surgery due to treatment failure. ß-hCG levels in the failure group were significantly higher as compared with the success group at Day 1, Day 4, and Day 7 (2116±3157 vs. 4178±3422, 2062±3551 vs. 4935±4103, and 1532±3007 vs. 3900±4783, respectively). The receiver operating characteristics curve for ß-hCG levels at Day 1 was 0.738, with a cutoff value of 1418 mIU/mL, while sensitivity and specificity values reached the optimum for treatment success (83.1% and 59.4%, respectively). Medical treatment with methotrexate achieved an 85.02% success rate for the treatment of progressive tubal ectopic pregnancy, while success rates for medical treatment decreased significantly when initial ß-hCG levels were >1418 mIU/mL.

Prognostic Significance of Retroperitoneal Lymphadenectomy, Preoperative Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet Lymphocyte Ratio in Primary Fallopian Tube Carcinoma: A Multicenter Study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prognostic role of preoperative neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and the need for para-aortic lymphadectomy in patients with primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-one patients with a diagnosis of PFTC were identified through the gynecologic oncology service database of six academic centers. Clinicopathological, surgical, and complete blood count data were collected. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, advanced stage, suboptimal surgery, and NLR > 2.7 were significant prognostic factors for progression-free survival, whereas in multivariate analysis, only advanced stage and suboptimal surgery were significant. In addition, in univariate analysis, cancer antigen 125 ≥ 35 U/mL, ascites, advanced stage, suboptimal surgery, NLR > 2.7, PLR > 233.3, platelet count ≥ 400,000 cells/mm(3), staging type, and histological subtype were significant prognostic factors for overall survival (OS); however, in multivariate analysis, only advanced stage, suboptimal surgery, NLR > 2.7, and staging type were significant. Inclusion of pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy in surgery showed significant association with longer OS, with a mean and median OS of 42.0 months and 35.5 months (range, 22 to 78 months), respectively, vs. 33.5 months and 27.5 months (range, 14 to 76 months), respectively, for patients who underwent surgery without para-aortic lymphadenectomy (hazard ratio, 3.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 5.7; p=0.002). CONCLUSION: NLR (in both univariate and multivariate analysis) and PLR (only in univariate analysis) were prognostic factors in PFTC. NLR and PLR are inexpensive and easy tests to perform. In addition, patients with PFTC who underwent bilateral pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy had longer OS.

A novel preoperative scoring system for predicting endometrial cancer in patients with complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia and accuracy of frozen section pathological examination in this context: a multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the accuracy of frozen pathological analysis in patients preoperatively diagnosed with endometrial atypical complex hyperplasia (ACH) and to develop a model predicting the probability of the presence of endometrial carcinoma in ACH. METHODS: Patients (n = 128) who underwent total hysterectomies because of diagnoses of ACH were evaluated at four tertiary centers. RESULTS: Diagnoses made using frozen sections and permanent sections were in good agreement (ĸ = 0.61, p < 0.0001). A useful scoring system combining weighted risk factors derived from a regression model is as follows: (2 × age ≥50 years) + (3 × BMI ≥30) + (2 × menopausal status) + (2 × diabetes comorbidity) + (3 × endometrial thickness >12 mm). The AUC of this score was 0.793, and the score afforded 80.9% sensitivity, 70.3% specificity, a 75.3% positive predictive value, and a 76.4% negative predictive value, when a score of 5 was used as a cutoff. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ACH should be evaluated by gynecological oncologists and intraoperative frozen section analysis should be performed by pathologists specializing in the evaluation of gynecological malignancies, because ACH is closely associated with endometrial cancer (EC). Our novel preoperative scoring system may aid in the detection of patients at increased risk of EC and thus guide general gynecologists.

Adjuvant treatment modalities, prognostic predictors and outcomes of uterine carcinosarcomas.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of uterine carcinosarcoma (UC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of three cancer registry databases in Turkey was conducted for identification of patients diagnosed with UC between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2012. We collected clinicopathological data in order to evaluate factors important in disease- free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: A total of 66 patients with UC with a median age of 65.0 years were included in the analysis. The median survival time of all patients was 37.5 months and the 5-year OS rate was 59.1%. In early stage patients (I-II) who received adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) with radiation therapy (RT), the median DFS and OS was 44 months and 55 months, respectively, compared to 34.5 months and 36 months, respectively, in patients who received adjuvant RT or CT alone (hazard ratio [HR], 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.7 to 3.1 for DFS; p=0.23 and HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 0.9 to 5.3 for OS; p=0.03). In advanced stage patients (III-IV), the median DFS and OS of patients receiving adjuvant RT with CT was 25 months and 38 months, respectively, compared to 23.5 months and 24.5 months, respectively, in patients receiving adjuvant RT or CT alone (HR, 3.1; 95% CI, 0.6 to 16.0 for DFS; p=0.03); (HR, 3.3; 95% CI, 0.7 to 15.0 for OS; p=0.01). In multivariate analysis, advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and suboptimal surgery showed significant association with poor OS. CONCLUSION: In patients with early or advanced stage UC, adjuvant CT with RT is associated with improved DFS and OS, as compared to CT or RT alone.

Pelvic tuberculosis, echinococcosis, and actinomycosis: great imitators of ovarian cancer.

AIMS: To evaluate the demographic, laboratory, clinical and imaging findings, surgical procedures and complications in women with final pathology results of pelvic tuberculosis (PT), pelvic echinococcosis (PE) or pelvic actinomycosis (PA) following exploratory surgery for suspicion of ovarian cancer. METHODS: Among 492 operations from January 2005 through January 2013, we retrospectively reviewed women with PT (n = 15), PE (n = 6), or PA (n = 5) mimicking ovarian cancer seen in an education and research hospital clinic. RESULTS: The mean ages of the women with PT, PE and PA were 34.2 ± 9.4, 39.1 ± 11 and 46.3 ± 3.6 years, respectively. The serum CA-125 was elevated in 14 (93%), four (67%) and four (80%) women, respectively. The average CA-125 levels were 242.8 ± 240, 104.3 ± 76.4 and 52.3 ± 18.6 IU/mL, respectively. The most common symptom was lower abdominal pain in 12 (87%), four (67%) and four (80%) women, respectively. The most common ultrasonography and computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging finding was a pelvic mass in 11 (73%), six (100%) and five (100%) women, respectively. The most common surgical procedure was extensive adhesiolysis in 10 (67%), three (50%) and five (100%) women, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic tuberculosis, echinococcosis and actinomycosis must be included in the differential diagnosis of women suspected to have ovarian cancer with or without ascites and elevated CA-125 levels, especially in those living in endemic countries. During surgical exploration, frozen section analysis is important to avoid unnecessarily prolonged surgical procedures and retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy, which increases morbidity in women with these curable pelvic infectious conditions.

A 5-year follow-up study comparing Burch colposuspension and transobturator tape for the surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of transobturator tape (TOT) and Burch colposuspension in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). METHODS: The present retrospective study included 770 patients who underwent SUI surgery with Burch colposuspension (n=498) or TOT (n=272). Clinical follow-up occurred at 2 weeks, 3, 6, and 12 months, and annually thereafter. Objective and subjective cure rates and intra- and postoperative complications were assessed. RESULTS: Among patients who had SUI surgery without another concomitant procedure, the Burch group had a significantly longer mean operation time (41.48 ± 10.61 minutes versus 23.77 ± 10.49 minutes; P<0.001) and a significantly longer length of hospital stay (3.11 ± 0.49 days versus 1.98 ± 0.40 days; P<0.001), compared with the TOT group. The rates of unintended functional outcomes were lower among women undergoing TOT than among those undergoing the Burch procedure (long-term voiding dysfunction 0.7% versus 4.2%, P=0.007; urinary retention 10.7% versus 26.9%, P<0.001). The 5-year cure rates were similar in the 2 groups (objective cure rate, 73.9% versus 77.5%, P=0.574; subjective cure rate, 76.8% versus 81.7%, P=0.416). CONCLUSION: In terms of efficacy, TOT appears equal to Burch colposuspension; however, TOT has fewer unintended functional outcomes than Burch colposuspension.

Association of maternal serum high sensitive C-reactive protein level with body mass index and severity of pre-eclampsia at third trimester.

AIM: To assess a maternal serum level of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) as a useful clinical parameter in prediction of pre-eclampsia severity and, to evaluate the correlation between hs-CRP and body mass index (BMI). MATERIAL & METHODS: Using cross-sectional study design, CRP was measured by a high sensitive immunoturbidimetric method between 24 and 40 weeks of gestation in normotensive controls (n = 115), in mild (n = 63) and severe (n = 34) pre-eclamptic patients. The receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to estimate the optimal threshold score of hs-CRP. RESULTS: For disease severity evaluation, a hs-CRP concentration of 9.66 mg/L was determined as cut-off point with 88% sensitivity, 81% specificity, 71% positive predictive value and 92% negative predictive value. When all three groups of patients were adjusted for gestational age [24(°/7) -27,(6/7) 28(°/7) -33,(6/7) 34(°/7) -40(6/7) ] and BMI, hs-CRP levels of severe pre-eclamptic patients were significantly higher than mild ones and controls in the study group with BMI < 25 kg/m(2) (P < 0.001). In the study group with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2), only severe pre-eclamptic patients between 28(°/7) and 33(6/7) weeks of gestation had significantly higher hs-CRP levels when compared with control and mild pre-eclamptic group (P < 0.001). When the patients were subgrouped as high (≥ 9.66 mg/L) and low hs-CRP group (< 9.66 mg/L), adverse outcomes for hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count (HELLP) syndrome and intrauterine growth-restricted baby were statistically significant higher in high hs-CRP group (P = 0.004 and P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Elevated level of hs-CRP is a useful parameter in the severity of clinical risk of pre-eclampsia in patients with BMI < 25 kg/m(2) at third trimester.

Neu-Laxova syndrome, grossly appearing normal on 20 weeks ultrasonographic scan, that manifested late in pregnancy: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Neu-Laxova syndrome (NLS) is a very rare and extremely lethal syndrome almost always inherited by autosomal recessive pattern. CASE PRESENTATION: A 21-year-old G2 P1 L0 Turkish woman was first seen at 18 weeks of gestation in antenatal policlinic. On ultrasound examination performed at 20 weeks of gestation for excluding gross abnormalities showed no abnormality and biometry of the fetus was concordant with date of gestation. She stopped follow-up after then. The woman were presented to emergency unit with a complaint of absent fetal movements at 38 weeks of gestation. Multiple abnormalities consistent with NLS have been seen on sonography. Nonvisible gastric cavity was also seen on sonography. Postmortem examination by genetics specialists confirmed the diagnosis of NLS. CONCLUSION: Neu-Laxova syndrome must be monitored continuously from the beginning of gestation to third trimester via serial ultrasonographies that is focused on previously described features of syndrome especially for consanguineous couples with or without a previous affected fetus.