Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment of Uterine Isthmus Atresia: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Uterine isthmus atresia is a rare Müllerian duct anomaly occasionally diagnosed in adolescents with primary amenorrhea and cyclic abdominal pain. A case is presented of a 14-year-old female with monthly cyclic lower abdominal pain of a 2-year duration. Magnetic resonance imaging and 3-dimensional ultrasound showed separation of a 10-mm fibrotic tissue between the cervical canal and the endometrial cavity. In an attempt to preserve reproductive ability, an end-to-end anastomosis was laparoscopically performed between the cervical canal and uterine cavity. A platinol stent (WallFlex Biliary RX; Boston Scientific, Boston, MA) was placed by hysteroscopy to avoid stenosis after surgery. Laparoscopic end-to-end anastomosis is proposed to treat congenital uterine isthmus atresia.

Sonographic and hysteroscopic endometrial examination in women treated with ulipristal acetate: Exploratory findings at a tertiary referral center.

OBJECTIVE: Ulipristal acetate (UPA) is a progesterone receptor modulator (PRM) agent that has shown benefits in women with symptomatic uterine fibroids. However, its effects on the endometrium are complex and not fully understood. We describe exploratory findings on macroscopic observation of the endometrium at transvaginal sonography (TVS) and hysteroscopy. The aim of the study is to characterize endometrial patterns commonly observed after UPA treatment. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a prospective longitudinal study at a tertiary referral center with 100 women with symptomatic uterine fibroids who received a 12-week treatment with UPA (5 mg/day). Patients underwent TVS before and after the treatment, and also a hysteroscopy examination was performed. Main outcome was to compare sonographic and hysteroscopic findings to histology after UPA treatment. RESULTS: Twenty one out of 100 (21%) women showed PAEC confirmed by histology after UPA treatment. Ultrasound findings were normal in most women after UPA treatment, but 18/100 (18%) showed an endometrial pattern suggestive of PRM effects (non-uniform, homogeneous endometrium with regular cystic areas). Endometrial thickness ≥16 mm was detected in 6/100 patients (6%), and all of them also presented sonographic PRM pattern. No patient presented malignancy according to histology in this subgroup, and 100% of them had PAEC pattern at histology. Among total patient population showing PAEC at histology, only 33% of these were identified by hysteroscopy, while 57% were identified by TVS with the PRM suggestive pattern. Of note, visibility of endometrium was improved at TVS after UPA. CONCLUSION: Identification of increased endometrial thickness together with the categorized endometrial PRM pattern at TVS may be correlated to benign lesions and may not be a cause of concern. This study is exploratory and further research is necessary to support these conclusions. Nevertheless, TVS seems to be feasible to plan adequate follow-up protocols by avoiding unnecessary interventional procedures such as hysteroscopy.

Colposcopy Evaluation at the Time of Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure May Avoid Unnecessary Treatment.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of colposcopy evaluation at the time of the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) to identify women with a previous confirmatory diagnosis of squamous intraepithelial lesion/cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (SIL/CIN) with low probability of dysplasia in the LEEP specimen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively recruited a cohort of 162 women undergoing LEEP for histological high-grade SIL/CIN 2-3 or low-grade SIL/CIN 1 with high-grade SIL cytology showing a fully visible squamocolumnar junction in the colposcopy evaluation at the time of LEEP. At the referral visit cervical cytology, human papillomavirus and genotype detection, digital colposcopy, colposcopical lesion measurement, and 1 or more biopsies of the transformation zone were obtained. The uterine cervix was colposcopically evaluated intraoperatively. RESULTS: Thirty-four women (21.0%) had a normal colposcopy evaluation at the time of the LEEP, whereas the remaining 128 women showed abnormal findings. Absence of SIL/CIN in the LEEP specimen was confirmed in 28 (82.3%) of the 34 women with a normal colposcopy at the time of LEEP group and 8 (3.1%) of the 128 women showing abnormal colposcopy at the time of LEEP group (p < .001). A normal colposcopic evaluation at the time of LEEP was associated with an increase in the risk of absence of lesion in the cone specimen compared with cases presenting an abnormal colposcopy (95% CI = 33.8-1,555.1, p < .001). The colposcopy evaluation at the time of LEEP had a positive predictive value of 82.3% (95% CI = 66.5-91.5) and a negative predictive value of 96.9% (95% CI = 92.2-98.8) to predict low probability of SIL/CIN in the specimen. CONCLUSIONS: Colposcopic evaluation at the time of LEEP seems to be accurate to identify SIL/CIN postbiopsy regression; thus, its performance would be considered at the time of the treatment.

The use of inhaled sevoflurane during operative hysteroscopy is associated with increased glycine absorption compared to intravenous propofol for maintenance of anesthesia.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of anesthesia maintenance drugs (inhaled sevoflurane versus intravenous propofol) used in general anesthesia on the absorption of glycine 1.5% solution during hysteroscopy. DESIGN: Prospective comparative study. SETTING: Tertiary care university hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred fifteen women undergoing hysteroscopy. INTERVENTIONS: Women were assigned to receive general anesthesia with inhaled sevoflurane (n = 77) or intravenous propofol (n = 38) to maintain anesthesia. MEASUREMENTS: The primary endpoint was clinically relevant glycine 1.5% absorption (>1000 mL), while secondary endpoints were the median of glycine absorption, operative time, complications and the incidence of discontinuation of the hysteroscopic procedure due to excessive glycine 1.5% absorption. MAIN RESULTS: Maintenance with sevoflurane produced significantly increased absorption of glycine 1.5% solution compared to intravenous anesthesia (264 vs 202 mL, P = .007). Clinically relevant absorption rates (>1000 mL) were observed in the sevoflurane group (P = .04) while none of the women receiving intravenous anesthesia reached this absorption level. No cases of severe post-operative hyponatremia (Na(1+)<125 mmol/L) or adverse events derived from glycine 1.5% absorption were reported. No major complications (such as perforations, severe hemorrhage or infection) were presented during the interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study show that the use of inhaled sevoflurane is associated with significantly increased glycine 1.5% absorption compared to intravenous propofol for the maintenance of anesthesia. However, further randomized controlled trials are needed to assess the possible mechanisms and risk factors involved in the higher absorption induced by sevoflurane.

Clinical, colposcopic and pathological characteristics of cervical and vaginal high-grade lesions negative for HPV by Hybrid Capture 2.

OBJECTIVE: Less than 5% of women with cervical or vaginal biopsy proven high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HG-SIL) show a negative Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) result. We analyzed 1) human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes by PCR in order to determine whether these cases represent infections by common or unusual types, and 2) the clinical, colposcopic and pathological differential characteristics of these patients. METHODS: 646 women with a histological diagnosis of HG-SIL and a HC2 test collected within 6 months prior to the diagnosis were identified. Patients with a negative HC2 result were selected. HPV was typed in the biopsy specimen in all by PCR using SPF10 and GP5+/6+ primers, and p16(INK4a) immunostaining was performed. The clinical and colposcopy findings of these women were compared with a control group of HG-SIL with positive HC2 result. RESULTS: 20 women (3.1%) with HG-SIL had a negative HC2. All biopsies were positive for p16(INK4). PCR analysis detected HPV types included in HC2 test in 55% of the cases, with an identical percentage of common viruses between women with relative light unit values above or below 0.40 (p=.361). False negative HC2 tests increased with age (p=.002) and were more frequent in patients with non satisfactory colposcopy or small sized lesions (p<.001). CONCLUSION: A negative HC2 test is an infrequent event in women with HG-SIL. Common HPV types are identified in over half of the cases. Older women and patients with small lesions or non satisfactory colposcopy have a higher rate of HC2 negative results.