[Role of a mini-invasive approach in the diagnosis and treatment of tubo-peritoneal infertility as an altenative to IVF]. / Il ruolo di un approccio chirurgico mini-invasivo nello diagnosi e trattamento della sterilità tubo-peritoneale in alternativa alla FIVET.

AIM: Tubal factor infertility accounts for approximately 25-35% of cases of female infertility. Identifiable causes of tubal infertility are postinfectious tubal damage, postsurgical adhesion formation, and endometriosis-related adhesions. Aim of this study was to evaluate the results of a diagnostic/therapeutic minimally invasive approach in patients with suspect or ascertained mechanical infertility in terms of obtained pregnancies. METHODS: The study enrolled 143 patients who underwent diagnostic or operative laparoscopy, with chromopertubation, peritoneal or endometrial culture, salpingoscopy when indicated and diagnostic or operative hysteroscopy. Nine patients with submucous-intramural or multiple intramural fibroids underwent miomectomy by minilaparotomy following hysteroscopy and chromopertubation. Patients were contacted periodically by telephone to monitor the onset and outcome of pregnancy. The mean length of follow- up was 49 months (range: 11 to 118 months). RESULTS: Of the 152 patients considered in the study, 61 became pregnant (40%). Twenty-three pregnancies resulted in miscarriage, two in tubal pregnancy and one patient aborted after a diagnosis of Down syndrome. In total, 32% of the patients achieved a term pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic/therapeutic mini-invasive approach allows women to become pregnant naturally and it is, therefore, an option for couples with ethical and religious concerns. The percentage of pregnancies is higher than after in-vitro fertilization. When efficacious, this approach allows additional spontaneous conceptions without renewed therapy and the course of pregnancy and the type of delivery will not differ from those in a normal population.

Total laparoscopic hysterectomy in early-stage endometrial cancer using an intrauterine manipulator: is it a bias for frozen section analysis? Case-control study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the systematic use of an intrauterine manipulator influences the accuracy of frozen section analysis in early-stage endometrial cancer. DESIGN: Case-control study (Canadian Task Force classification II-1). PATIENTS: Three hundred fourteen consecutive women with early-stage endometrial cancer. INTERVENTIONS: Between January 2004 and December 2009, 314 women with early-stage endometrial cancer underwent staging at laparoscopy (case group) or laparotomy (control group). All women in the case group underwent total laparoscopic hysterectomy using an intrauterine manipulator. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The positive predictive value of frozen section analysis for myometrial infiltration, histotype, and grade of differentiation was 97.2%, 100%, and 97.2%, respectively. The correct diagnosis rate was of 85.7%. The accuracy of frozen section analysis, rate of correct diagnosis, and rate of tumor vascular invasion did not seem to be significantly modified by systematic use of an intrauterine manipulator for total laparoscopic hysterectomy compared with total abdominal hysterectomy in early-stage endometrial cancer staging. CONCLUSIONS: Frozen section analysis of early-stage endometrial cancer is highly accurate, and systematic use of an intrauterine manipulator does not represent a bias for correct evaluation of the specimen.