Resección histeroscópica de septo uterino conformado por mioma submucoso / Hysteroscopy Resection of the Uterine Septum Due To Submucosal Myoma

Las malformaciones uterinas congénitas presentan una baja prevalencia en la población general (0,5-6,7 por ciento), el útero septo es la más frecuente. Estas enfermedades pueden afectar a los resultados reproductivos de las pacientes, así como aumentar la incidencia de abortos de repetición, presentaciones fetales anómalas o partos pretérminos. De la misma forma, los miomas uterinos submucosos también pueden producir alteraciones de la fertilidad, aunque la sintomatología más relacionada con los mismos es el sangrado. Constituyen el tumor benigno más frecuente del aparato genital femenino. El diagnóstico de estas patologías puede realizarse mediante pruebas de imagen como la ecografía transvaginal y la resonancia magnética, aunque la visualización directa vía histeroscópica sigue siendo de elección. Esta técnica constituye, además, la primera opción terapéutica, ya que se puede realizar tanto la resección del septo uterino como la miomectomía, sin apenas complicaciones y mediante una técnica quirúrgica segura y poco invasiva. El tratamiento histeroscópico está especialmente indicado en pacientes sintomáticas, con esterilidad o abortos de repetición, incluso antes de iniciar terapias de reproducción asistida. En el siguiente trabajo exponemos el caso de una paciente que presentaba un septo uterino constituido en su mayor parte por un leiomioma submucoso tratado vía histeroscópica; siendo un caso muy raro, dada la infrecuente asociación entre ambas patologías(AU)

Congenital uterine malformations present low prevalence in the general population (0.5-6.7 percent), and uterus septum is the most frequent. These pathologies can affect the reproductive outcomes of patients, as well as increase the incidence of repeating abortions, abnormal fetal presentations or preterm deliveries. In the same way, submucosal uterine fibroids can also produce alterations in fertility, although the most related symptomatology is bleeding. They are the most frequent benign tumor of the female genital tract. Diagnosis can be carried out through imaging tests such as transvaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, although direct visualization, via hysteroscopy, is still the preferred option. This technique is also the first therapeutic option, since both, resection of the uterine septum and myomectomy can be performed with few complications and a safe and minimally invasive surgical technique. Hysteroscopy is especially indicated in symptomatic patients, with sterility or repeated abortions, even before initiating assisted reproduction therapies. In the following paper, we present the case of a patient who presented a uterine septum formed mostly by a submucosal leiomyoma. She was treated by hysteroscopy. This case is very rare given the infrequent association between both pathologies(AU)

Segmentation of Oil Spills on Side-Looking Airborne Radar Imagery with Autoencoders.

In this work, we use deep neural autoencoders to segment oil spills from Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) imagery. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has been much exploited for ocean surface monitoring, especially for oil pollution detection, but few approaches in the literature use SLAR. Our sensor consists of two SAR antennas mounted on an aircraft, enabling a quicker response than satellite sensors for emergency services when an oil spill occurs. Experiments on TERMA radar were carried out to detect oil spills on Spanish coasts using deep selectional autoencoders and RED-nets (very deep Residual Encoder-Decoder Networks). Different configurations of these networks were evaluated and the best topology significantly outperformed previous approaches, correctly detecting 100% of the spills and obtaining an F 1 score of 93.01% at the pixel level. The proposed autoencoders perform accurately in SLAR imagery that has artifacts and noise caused by the aircraft maneuvers, in different weather conditions and with the presence of look-alikes due to natural phenomena such as shoals of fish and seaweed.

Safety and patients' satisfaction after hysteroscopic sterilisation.

The aim of this study was to understand the potential complications of the Essure® device as well as the factors influencing its onset and patient satisfaction. We present a 9-year descriptive prospective study that included 1068 patients. The device was placed in 1056 of them (98.8%); 894 had no pain or mild pain during the insertion and only 12 patients experienced pain greater than menstrual pain. The proportion of patients without pain was greater in the group that took NSAIDs or NSAIDs and BZD and the unmedicated group had the highest rate of severe pain (p = .00). In all, 161 of the 1064 patients who had the Essure® inserted reported having an adverse effect during the 3-months post-insertion (pelvic pain or discomfort). The mean score out of 10 attributed to this method was 9.06 (S = 1.11). We concluded that the Essure® shows a low rate of complications and users showed a high degree of satisfaction. Impact statement What is already known on this subject: There are few international publications on Essure®. When we conducted a search in PubMed for the term 'Essure', we obtained 221 publications. When we added the terms 'Essure and complications', we obtained 20 publications, and when we increased the restriction including 'satisfaction', we obtained seven; thus, the uniqueness of our study. What the results of this study add: We present a 9-year descriptive prospective study that included 1068 patients. The aim of this study was to understand the potential complications of the Essure® device (Bayer, Whippany, NJ), as well as factors that can influence its onset and the patient satisfaction. The device was placed in 1056 of the patients (98.8%); 894 had no pain or mild pain during the insertion and only 12 patients experienced pain greater than menstrual pain. The proportion of patients without pain was greater in the group that took NSAIDs or NSAIDs and BZD and the unmedicated group had the highest rate of severe pain (p=.00). What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research: Our study shows a low rate of complications with Essure®, mild and transient in most cases, as well as a high degree satisfaction. Nevertheless, given the few published studies on this device, we believe that long-term follow-up is needed.

Intrathecal Ziconotide and Morphine for Pain Relief: A Case Series of Eight Patients with Refractory Cancer Pain, Including Five Cases of Neuropathic Pain.

INTRODUCTION: Studies have shown that, at low doses and with careful titration, combination therapy with intrathecal ziconotide and morphine results in rapid control of opioid-refractory cancer pain. However, there is a lack of published data regarding the efficacy and safety of intrathecal ziconotide specifically for the treatment of neuropathic cancer pain. CASE SERIES: Case reports of ziconotide intrathecal infusion in eight patients (age 45-71 years; 75% male) with chronic, uncontrolled cancer pain during therapy with intrathecal morphine plus bupivacaine were reviewed. Neuropathic pain was confirmed in five patients. Treatment was initiated with adjunctive ziconotide when pain ≥5 on a visual analog scale persisted in spite of 3 successive 20% dose increases of intrathecal morphine. Ziconotide was initiated at 0.5-1.0 µg/day, with mean increases of 0.5 µg every 4-7 days if required (maximum dose 10 µg/day; mean dose 4.9 µg/day). Pain intensity was reduced in all patients after 3-5 days. Of the eight patients, three died for reasons unrelated to ziconotide, three discontinued treatment due to adverse effects (predominantly psychoneurological disorders), and one patient is still receiving treatment. One patient discontinued ziconotide due to confusion and delirium. Due to continued lack of pain control with intrathecal morphine, intrathecal fentanyl was initiated; however, effective pain relief was not achieved with 1500 µg/day. Ziconotide was restarted and the patient then achieved pain control. CONCLUSION: On the basis of our clinical experience, we recommend adding ziconotide to intrathecal opioid-based therapy in cancer patients with neuropathic pain inadequately controlled by intrathecal morphine alone. FUNDING: Eisai, Spain.

Alterations of naïve and memory B-cell subsets are associated with risk of rejection and infection in heart recipients.

Rejection and infection are relevant causes of mortality in heart recipients. We evaluated the kinetics of the maturation status of B lymphocytes and its relationship with acute cellular rejection and severe infection in heart recipients. We analyzed B-cell subsets using 4-color flow cytometry in a prospective follow-up study of 46 heart recipients. Lymphocyte subsets were evaluated at specific times before and up to 1 year after transplantation. Higher percentages of pretransplant class-switched memory B cells (CD19+CD27+IgM-IgD- >14%) were associated with a 74% decrease in the risk of severe infection [Cox regression relative hazard (RH) 0.26, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.07-0.86; P = 0.027]. Patients with higher percentages of naïve B cells at day 7 after transplantation (CD19+CD27-IgM+IgD+ >58%) had a 91% decrease in the risk of developing acute cellular rejection (RH 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.80; P = 0.02). Patients with infections showed a strong negative correlation between baseline serum B-cell-activating factor (BAFF) concentration and absolute counts of memory class-switched B cells (R = -0.81, P = 0.01). The evaluation of the immunophenotypic maturation status of B lymphocytes could prove to be a useful marker for identifying patients at risk of developing rejection or infection after heart transplantation.

Quantitative abnormalities of peripheral blood distinct T, B, and natural killer cell subsets and clinical findings in obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have assessed immunophenotypic abnormalities on lymphocyte subsets in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). We performed an extended immunological study to define alterations of distinct T, B, and natural killer (NK) cell subsets in obstetric patients with APS and their relationship with APS-associated complications. PATIENTS AND CONTROLS: 36 women with APS [Sydney criteria, Group A1 without thrombosis (n=26), Group A2 with thrombosis (n=10)]; and 36 age matched women with recurrent abortion without antiphospholipid antibodies (disease controls; Group B), 36 healthy parous women (healthy controls; Group C), and 36 healthy nonparous women (healthy controls; Group D). Thrombotic events occurred after history of abortions in all A2 women. Three-color whole-blood flow cytometry was used to characterize the distinct immunophenotypes. RESULTS: A1 patients had significantly higher percentages of CD4+CD45RA-CCR7+ central memory cells (A1 vs D), higher percentages of activated CD4+CD25+ T cells (A1 vs D), and lower percentages and absolute counts of CD4+CD45RA-CCR7- effector memory cells (A1 vs D). Group A2 patients had higher percentages and absolute numbers of CD19+CD27-IgD+ naive B cells (A2 vs A1 vs all controls), lower percentages and absolute numbers of CD3-CD56+CD16+ NK cells (A2 vs all controls), and higher percentages of activated CD4+DR+ (A2 vs all controls), CD8+DR+ (A2 vs A1 vs C vs D), CD4+CD38+DR+ (A2 vs D), and CD4+CD25+DR+ T cells (A2 vs all controls). Increased percentages of CD8+DR+ T cells [relative risk (RR) 2.43, 95% CI 1.09-5.44, p=0.02] and of naive B cells (RR 3.05, 95% CI 1.30-7.11, p=0.009) were associated with development of thrombosis. CONCLUSION: In obstetric patients with APS we documented significant changes in T, B, and NK cell homeostasis. Increased levels of CD8+DR+ and CD19+CD27-IgD+ cells might identify obstetric patients with APS at risk of having thrombosis.