Pregnancy complicated by maternal cardiac disease

Forty pregnancies complicated by maternal cardiac disease were reviewed. Thirty-eight per cent were of congenital origin and sixty-two per cent rheumatic valvular. No therapeutic abortions were performed. No pregnancy was complicated by bacterial endocarditis, and there were neither perinatal nor maternal mortalities. Cardiac failure (17% ) occurred only with mitral stenosis, specially when associated with other valvular lesions. Obstetrical complications were minimal, and the spontaneous abortation rate (12.5% ) was not higher than for non-cardiac parturients. General anaesthesia was used for all Caesarian Sections (26.5% ) with no adverse outcome. This study reflects the remarkable good maternal and foetal prognosis in pregnancies complicated by cardiac disease

Genital tract malignancies in Trinidad

In Trinidad, genital tract malignancy is the leading cause of death and the commonest of all female cancers, constituting 38.9 per cent of all malignant neoplasms. This clinico-pathological study comprised 82 patients who were diagnosed as having a genital organ malignancy at the Mount Hope Womens Hospital, during a five-year period between November, 1981 and Octuber, 1986. The malignancies were categorized by site and broad-type, baed on the SixthInternational Classification of Disseases. Carcinoma of the cervix was the commonest malignancy (62.2) after the age of 25. It was 3.2 times more frequemt than corpus uteri cancer, and the mean age at presentation was 54.4 years. Endometrial carcinoma was found only in postmenopausal patients presenting with bleeding at a higher mean age of 63.2 years (0.05>p>.02). Diabetes mellitus, obesity and hypertension were more commonly associated with endometrial carcinoma than with carcinoma of the cervix, but only hypertension significantly so (.01>p>.001. There was no significant difference in the incidence in both major ethinic groups in endometrial and cervical carcinma. However, only one Muslim patient had a genital tract cancer (p < .05). Forty-four per cent of our patients with Stage I cervical carcinoma were in the reproductive age group

A clinico-pathologic study of ovarian neoplasm.

A series of 96 patients who were diagnosed with 120 ovarian neoplasms at surgery have been reviewed. Nine types of benign ovarian cysts were encountered. Benign cystic teratoma with an incidence of 30% was the commonest tumor. The majority of these were in the 20-30 year age range. The mean age of the patients with mucinous cyst adenoma and benign cystic teratoma was significantly less (P less than 0.05) than those with serous cyst adenoma. The incidence of ovarian malignancies of 8.3% was low, and none of the malignancies was bilateral. There was a high incidence of 8.3% of malignant change in benign cystic teratomas. Abdominal pain and swelling were the symptoms most frequently experienced in patients with benign ovarian neoplasms.

Splenic metastases in ovarian carcinoma

We report two cases of ovarian carcinoma with splenic metastases detected by ultrasound and discuss their sonographic appearances. The importance of routinely including this organ during staging and follow-up studies in ovarian carcinoma using diagnostic imaging methods is emphasized