Ultrasound-guided excision of rectus abdominis muscle endometriosis.

We report a rare case of rectus abdominis muscle endometriosis excised under ultrasound guidance. A 36-year-old woman came to our observation presenting an abdominal nodule located in the right side of the umbilical area. Ultrasound of the abdominal wall showed two hypoechogenic nodules in the context of the right rectus abdominis muscle and a fine-needle aspiration, performed under ultrasound guidance, confirmed the diagnosis of endometriosis. The patient underwent surgical excision of the lesions. Intraoperative localization was performed through ultrasonography. In our case, the diagnosis was essentially based on ultrasound scan. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were not performed. A high-resolution ultrasound is a simple, inexpensive and safe method and is sufficient for indicating surgery. Furthermore, the use of intraoperative ultrasound allowed adequate margins of excision.

Hepatotoxicity with low- and ultralow-dose flutamide: a surveillance study on 203 hyperandrogenic young females.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of low- and ultralow-dose regimens of flutamide on liver function of young hyperandrogenic females. DESIGN: A 10-year surveillance study. SETTING: University teaching hospital. PATIENT(S): Two hundred three hyperandrogenic young females (mean age: 20.9 ± 4.9 years). INTERVENTION(S): Inclusion criterion was receiving low- or ultralow-dose of flutamide as antiandrogenic treatment. Patients were categorized into Groups A and B, according to the administered dose (Group A = 62.5 mg/daily, Group B = 125 mg/daily). The two groups were further subdivided into subgroups (A1, A2, B1, B2) depending on the coadministration of estroprogestagen oral contraceptives (OCs) (A2, B2). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were periodically evaluated and used as markers of hepatotoxicity. RESULT(S): Mild-to-severe increase of circulating AST/ALT was detected in 19 (9.4%; 95% CI = 5.9%-14.4%) patients during the first year of treatment (mild = 16 [7.9%, 95% CI = 4.7%-12.7%], moderate = 2 [0.9%, 95% CI = 0.1%-3.9%], severe = 1 [0.5%, 95% CI = 0.0%-3.1%]). No statistical differences were observed in relation to flutamide dose regimens and coadministration of OC. The median time to hypertransaminasemia was 12 weeks (range: 2-48) with no difference between Group A and Group B. A significant correlation was observed between hepatotoxicity and pretreatment BMI, ALT basal level, and AST basal level. CONCLUSION(S): Hepatotoxicity is a rare but possible event using low- and ultralow-dose regimens of flutamide. We need larger study populations in order to identify risk patterns for hepatotoxicity development.

Polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescence.

The definition of polycystic ovary syndrome in very young girls is complicated by the fact that many features typical of the syndrome can also be seen as physiological stages in the maturation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis. The role of reduced insulin sensitivity in the pathogenesis and evolution of the disorder has gained more importance over recent years: both elevated androgen levels and being overweight may influence the impairment of glucose metabolism. Our study focused on 250 girls in the first 8 years of gynecological age. We analyzed the prevalence of different phenotypes according to the Rotterdam criteria and the impact of higher BMI on androgen levels and on fasting screening markers of glucose metabolism. In a smaller sample, we performed a more detailed evaluation of the glucose metabolism parameters; our findings indicated that in this age group, being overweight plays a major role in the deterioration of the clinical picture.