Study for the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic myomectomy / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and the clinical efficacy of the laparoscopic myomectomy through analyzing several operation factors. METHODS: There were 185 cases of laparoscopic myomectomy between January 2004 and December 2008 at the department of obstetrics and gynecology in Hanyang University Guri Hospital. Retrospectively many factors of the operation were analyzed. The factors include the size, number and type of the myoma, BMI (body mass index), operation method, operation time, and complication and the prognosis of the operation. RESULTS: For the type of myomas, 115 (62.2%) cases were intramural myomas, 38 (20.5%) cases were subserosal types and 32 (17.3%) cases were mixed types. The average diameter of the biggest myoma was 6.67+/-0.16 cm (range, 2.5~15 cm) and the average number of the myoma was 2.07+/-0.15 (range, 1~15). Previous operation history and pelvic adhesion did not show correlation with the operation time. The size, type and number of myoma and the operation methods showed correlation with the operation time. According to myoma size and number, we divided the cases into two groups, low risk group (122 cases) and high risk group (63 cases). The analysis showed that post-operation hemoglobin drop (2.89+/-0.10 g/dL vs. 4.03+/-0.23 g/dL) and blood transfusion amount (2.89+/-0.10 pints vs. 4.03+/-0.23 pints) as well as the operation time (137.58+/-4.37 min vs. 193.73+/-9.88 min) showed noticeable increase in the high risk group. CONCLUSION: This statistics show that laparoscopic myomectomy is now being applied to patients with larger and more myomas. Factors affecting operation time were the weight of myomas, number of myomas, type of myomas, number of trocars and methods of resected myomas removal. Also, operation time and post-operative hemoglobin drop increased in the high risk group.

Preoperative Diagnosis and Medical Treatment of Pelvic Actinomycosis

The diagnosis of the pelvic actinomycosis is seldom made preoperatively because of no reliable or specific clinical manifestation which has tendency to mimic advanced gynecological malignancy and the relative infrequency of the disease. To explore the method for improvement of preoperative diagnosis and possibility of avoiding the surgical management of pelvic actinomycosis, we collected and summarized the data of age, parity, state of menopause, history of intrauterine device (IUD) use, symptoms, laboratory findings, radiologic findings, provisional diagnosis and treatment from 14 cases diagnosed pathologically and treated in Hanyang University Hospital from 2000 to 2007. Eleven (78.6%) of 14 cases were IUD users. Most common complaints were lower abdominal pain (71.4%) and vaginal discharge (57.1%) which were followed by fever (28.6%) and back pain (28.6%). Four cases (28.6%) were identified as pelvic actinomycosis before operation and in 3 cases (21.4%) malignancy was provisional preoperative diagnosis. Pelvic actinomycosis was suspected via abdominal computed tomography (CT) or cervicovaginal cytology and confirmed via endometrial biopsy or fine needle aspiration biopsy. Two cases that were diagnosed before operation and received only antibiotics therapy had no recurrence. It was suggested that pelvic actinomycosis could be suspected via abdominal CT and cervicovaginal cytology in IUD users, and endometrial biopsy and fine needle aspiration biopsy may help establish the diagnosis before the operation. Adequate preoperative antibiotics therapy could make extensive exploratory surgery avoided or conservative surgery feasible.

Risk of malignancy index in the preoperative evaluation of ovarian masses / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: To assess the ability of risk of malignancy index (RMI) based on ultrasound findings, serum levels of CA 125, and menopausal status to discriminate between benign and malignant ovarian masses for preoperative screening. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted of 255 women with ovarian masses admitted for operation at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hanyang University Hospital between 1999 and 2003. The sensitivity and specificity of serum levels of CA 125, ultrasound findings, and menopausal status were calculated both separately and combined into a RMI to diagnose malignancy. RESULTS: There were significant preoperative differences of ultrasound findings, serum CA 125 level, serum CA 19-9 level, platelet count and menopausal status between benign and malignant ovarian masses (P<0.05). Using a cut-off value of 100 to indicate malignancy, the RMI gave a sensitivity of 81.7%, specificity of 81.9%. The RMI was more accurate in predicting malignancy than each one of its components measured individually. CONCLUSION: The RMI is able to correctly discriminate between malignant and benign ovarian masses. This preoperative evaluation of women with ovarian masses is anticipated to help plan their management.

Prevalence of Congenital Heart Disease from the Elementary Student Heart Disease Screening Program / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of congenital heart disease from the 1998 student heart disease screening program. METHODS: The heart disease screening program for elementary students was conducted in Kyonggi-do, in 1998. The subjects of the present study comprised the 40,402 students who attended the schools in the catchment area of a collaborative university hospital and who participated in the primary examination. The congenital heart disease (CHD) patients were initially identified through a questionnaire about prior medical history, and further through diagnostic tests & medical examinations in the secondary & the tertiary examinations. Certain assumptions were used in the estimation of the number of CHD cases among non-participants of the secondary & tertiary examinations. The overall prevalence of CHD was estimated by adding the CHD detection rates of the participants and the estimated prevalence of the non-participants. RESULTS: Among the 40,402 primary participants, 1,655 were referred further, of whom 79.1% (1,309) participated in the secondary examination. Of these, 121 were referred to the tertiary examination, with a participation rate at this last stage of 80.2%. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the screening tools was the highest when the results of both EKG and the questionnaire were positive. Because 85.9% of the detected cases had a past history of CHD, PPV was higher when the selection criteria in the questionnaire included past CHD history than when it didnt. The CHD detection rate among the participants was 1.76 cases/1,000 and the presumed number of cases among the non-participants was 31; giving an estimated final CHD prevalence of 2.52 cases/1,000 (95% CI : 2.06-3.06). Among the identified cases of CHD, VSD (52.8%) was the most common, followed by PDA (9.7%), TOF (9.7%) & PS (9.7%). CONCLUSION: Because the characteristics of the non-participants differed from those of the participants, the estimation of prevalence was influenced by the participation rate. Of the detected cases, 85.9% had a past history of diagnosis or operation for CHD. These findings suggested that the prevalence estimated in this study may be an underestimation of the actual condition. Therefore, a birth cohort study is required in order to more accurately estimate the prevalence and the effects of the program.