[The contraceptive pill and cancer].

PIP: Predisposing factors to cervical cancer development are age, smoking, socioeconomical status, parity, and number of sex partners. Long-term oral contraceptive (OC) use and less than 50 mg estrogen dose have been weakly linked to increased cancer risk. Regular examination and switching to other contraception in case of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia is recommended. Estrogen in sequential pills (Ovacon) increases the risks of uterine cancer by affecting the mucosa. Predisposing factors are: absence of pregnancy (nulliparity), postmenopause, hypertension, and diabetes. Parity reduces the risk. The risk is reduced in combined pills and after use of 1 year. Protection is offered by the progesterone component for 10-20 years after cessation of use. Ovarian cancer is prevented by parity and OC use even 10 years later. High estrogen levels inducing frequent ovulation damage the ovaries. Promoting factors are: old age, avoidance of breast feeding, and overweight. Breast cancer promoters are 1st pregnancy in older age, early menarche, and no pregnancy at all. OC use under age 25 and before 1st pregnancy are significant risk factors. High progesterone levels are associated with increased mitotic activity in the breast. Rare benign fibrocysts can develop into breast cancer. OC use is connected to hepatoma development mainly estrogen-induced. Liver cancer was found twice as high in OC users. Hepatoma often ruptures causing hemorrhage. 8% of liver tumors are malignant with a survival rate of 50% of patients to 4.8 years. The possible association of OCs to skin melanoma and hypophysial tumors could not be confirmed. OCs regulate menstruation, reduce bleeding, protect against uterine and ovarian cancer, but cervical and breast cancers have been influenced by them.^ieng

Ritodrine treatment for uterine hyperactivity during the active phase of labor.

Forty consecutive patients with uterine hyperactivity, defined as either tachysystole and/or hypertonus during the active phase of vertex delivery, were treated with intravenous ritodrine (50 up to 300 micrograms/min, in 50 micrograms increments/5 min). Thirty-four patients (85%) responded within 20 min with termination of the uterine dysfunction and all (21, 52%) concomitant fetal heart rate distress signs disappeared. The treatment did not prolong labor, as this was significantly correlated to parity and cervical dilation when treatment was initiated (P less than 0.0006 and P less than 0.008, respectively). Fifteen patients were delivered by cesarean section (37.5%) mainly for cephalopelvic disproportion. Multiparas were older and had shorter ritodrine initiation-delivery intervals, but these were the only significant differences when compared to primiparas. Ritodrine is therefore suggested as an effective treatment of uterine hypercontractility dysfunction.

[Ultrasonically-guided aspiration of clear pelvic cysts].

In 33 women aged 13-80, clear pelvic cysts were aspirated. The diameter of the cysts was between 4-11 cm and the aspiration, by either the vaginal or abdominal routes, was ultrasonically guided. In 25 cases (76%) there was no recurrence of a cyst during continuing follow-up. In 8 cases in which a cyst recurred, 4 were operated on and benign tumors were found. Ultrasonically guided aspiration is appropriate treatment for clear pelvic cysts.

Endolymphatic stromal myosis (endometrial low-grade stromal sarcoma) presenting with hematuria: a diagnostic challenge.

In this case of a 41-year-old white woman who presented with hematuria, the diagnosis of metastatic endolymphatic stromal myosis (ESM) in the urinary bladder was reached on the basis of the histologic pattern and with the aid of intermediate filament typing. In the hysterectomy specimen the tumor foci of ESM were of minute size. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of such an unusual clinical presentation of this lesion.

Solitary thick intra-uterine membranes not associated with the amniotic band syndrome; three case reports.

Three cases in which a single intra-uterine membrane with a free and thickened edge was identified by ultrasound antenatally are presented. The bands turned out to be thickenings of the fetal membranes. In one case intra-uterine adhesions were documented by hysterosalpingography (HSG) and hysteroscopy before conception. One infant suffered from hypospadias. The diagnosis of intra-uterine bands or membranes should turn our attention to a possible intra-uterine pathology.

Ultrasonic prediction of growth discordancy by intertwin difference in abdominal circumference.

Intertwin abdominal circumference (AC) and femur length (FL) differences were studied in 24 growth-discordant (greater than or equal to 15% birth weight difference) and in 32-growth concordant twin pairs delivered within 2 weeks of the last ultrasonic examination. Both groups were of similar gestational age but differed significantly in the mean twin birth weight and intertwin AC difference (P = 0.01 and P = 0.00009, respectively). A cutoff value (greater than or equal to 18 mm) for AC difference was found to discriminate significantly (P less than 0.0009) between concordant and discordant pairs with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 66.7%, 78%, 69.5% and 75.7%, respectively. These data may suggest that an intertwin difference of 18 mm or more in AC effectively screens for the diagnosis of 15% or more birth weight difference in twin pregnancies.

Ovarian carcinoma during pregnancy: a study of 23 cases in Israel between the years 1960 and 1984.

Data from a study on malignant ovarian tumors in pregnancy in Israel are presented. During the 25-year period of the survey, 23 new cases of malignant ovarian tumors during pregnancy were diagnosed, representing an incidence of 0.12/100,000 females over the age of 14; over half of the patients were in their third decade of life at the time of diagnosis of the tumor. Ovarian malignant tumors during pregnancy are more prevalent in Jewish women of European-American origin than in those of Asian-African descent. Borderline carcinomas were found in 35% of our patients; epithelial invasive tumors were found in 30%; the other tumors were dysgerminoma (17%), granulosa cell tumor (13%), and undifferentiated carcinoma (5%). Most of the patients (74%) were diagnosed in stage I. In three cases, ovarian cancer was diagnosed during surgery for tubal pregnancy, and in two during cesarean section at term. In early-stage disease and low-potential-malignancy tumors, surgery can be conservative; thus, 14 of 23 bore a live child. In advanced disease, aggressive surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy should be instituted. Factors affecting prognosis were age of patient, histologic type of tumor, and clinical stage of disease. Overall, the survival is much better than that for ovarian tumors in general, because most of the tumors are of low potential malignancy and are diagnosed at an early stage.

Isolated necrosis of the tubal fimbriae in a prepubertal girl.

A report of haemorrhagic necrosis of the tubal fimbriae in a prepubertal girl is presented. The presumptive aetiology for this is the isolated torsion of the fimbrial end which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously described. A high index of suspicion of torsion and early intervention is emphasised. Laparoscopy should usually precede laparotomy in doubtful cases but during laparotomy as little as possible should be done in order to retain future fertility.

Second-breech presentation in twins--a possible adaptive measure to promote fetal growth.

Two hundred eighty-three longitudinally lying twin pairs were evaluated for the possible etiology of breech presentation in twins. Breech-breech pairs were delivered at a significantly earlier gestational age (P less than .02), because of significantly more deliveries (P less than .04) between 30-32 weeks, compared with vertex-second twins. Nevertheless, breech-breech pairs attained similar or larger birth weights when compared with other combinations. Discordant-second twins were found five times more frequently in breech-second pairs when twin A was in the vertex presentation. It is possible that breech-breech pairs reach a critical utero-fetal proportion earlier, resulting in earlier labor. Alternatively, twins may arrange in second-breech presentations as an adaptive measure to promote growth. We recommend special care for persistent breech-breech presentations diagnosed at the beginning of the third trimester.

[Metroplasty in congenital uterine malformations].

44 women with congenital uterine malformations, aged 22-39, underwent metroplasty during a 19-year period. They constituted 7.3% of all patients with such malformations diagnosed during that period. Indications were a high rate of spontaneous abortions (78.3%), and low rates for term deliveries (9.3%) and live children (11.8%) among 163 pregnancies. The operations were tailored to the uterine malformations; some were by the abdominal route and others involved hysteroscopic resection of a uterine septum (13 cases). After metroplasty, in 52 pregnancies the abortion rate was reduced to 26.9%, and term deliveries increased to 59.6% and neonatal survival to 69.2% (for all 3, p less than 10(-8)). It is concluded that a poor obstetric history is an indication to search for uterine malformations, and that if found, there is a clear indication for metroplasty. The surgeon must know the types of malformations and should be well acquainted with the different operative techniques.

The outcome of pregnancies complicated by preterm rupture of the membranes with and without cerclage.

Thirty-two patients with cerclage were compared to 76 patients without cerclage. All pregnancies were complicated with preterm (less than 36 weeks) rupture of the membranes (PTROM). The management following removal of the cerclage was the same for the two groups and consisted of conservative treatment unless chorioamnionitis ensued. It was found that under similar conditions and treatment there was no significant difference between the outcomes of PTROM-complicated gestations with and without a cerclage. The low added risk of cerclage to PTROM should not deter its use when indicated.

Lupus-like syndrome in a mother and newborn following administration of hydralazine; a case report.

A very-low-birth-weight infant died from pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade confirmed by the post-mortem findings. The mother suffered from lupus-like syndrome consequent to hydralazine treatment for pregnancy-induced hypertension. The possible relationship between mother-infant pathology and hydralazine administration is discussed.

Effectiveness of silicone sheeting in preventing the formation of pelvic adhesions.

The uterine horns of 35 female rabbits were subjected to injury by cautery. Ten days later the adhesions were scored and lysed, and in 30 animals the lesion on one side was covered with a segment of silicone. The contralateral uterine horn served as an internal control. After 5, 10, or 15 days, the silicone was removed (groups A, B, and C, respectively). Five animals (group D) in which no silicone barrier was introduced served as an external control. The rabbits were killed ten days later, and the pelvic adhesions were scored again. A significant reduction in adhesion formation following lysis was found in groups A, B, and C. The largest difference between the treated and the untreated side was obtained in group A. In each of these groups, the mean adhesions score on the treated side was significantly lower following lysis than in group D.

Complications associated with genital colonization in pregnancies with and without cerclage.

Cultures from the cervical milieu were taken from 24 antibiotic-treated patients (group A) and from 25 patients with no antibiotic treatment (group B). Both groups had undergone cerclage and were compared to 30 randomly chosen pregnant patients without cerclage (group C). Positive cultures were obtained in 70.8% and 48% before cerclage and in 66.7% and 68% after cerclage in groups A and B, respectively. These were not significantly different from group C (56.7%). Escherichia coli was found in over 75% of positive cultures. The rate of premature deliveries and premature rupture of the membranes were significantly higher in the cerclage groups. Maternal morbidity was significantly higher in group A compared to B and C. Our data suggest that bacterial colonization of the cervix and the vagina is not influenced by cerclage and antibiotics. It is concluded that cervical cerclage is associated with increased morbidity, therefore it is indicated only for definite anatomic and/or functional defects.

Growth discordancy in appropriate for gestational age, term twins.

We compared 14 term (37 weeks or more), discordant (15% or more birth weight difference), but not growth-retarded (2500 g or larger) twin pairs with 28 randomly selected term and appropriate for gestational age twin pairs without discordancy. The comparison of the two subgroups showed no significant difference in maternal age, parity, gestational age, incidence of maternal hypertension, or perinatal outcome. It is suggested that discordancy is not a risk factor when the twin pair has reached term and the lighter twin weighs at least 2500 g.

The growth discordant twin.

The study of growth discordancy in twin gestation has gathered great momentum in recent years. Divergent intertwin growth is believed to be a direct result of the process of twinning and of the inability of the uterine environment to provide for the increased demand of multiple fetuses. The smaller twin faces increased risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity as well as reduced physical and mental development in later life. The advent of ultrasonography enabled a fairly accurate prediction of growth disparity. Although extensive investigative efforts have clarified many questions regarding divergent twin growth, the question how to manage such pregnancies remains to be answered. The present article is a review of the literature concerning the clinical aspects of growth discordant twins.