Predictors of success in methotrexate treatment of women with unruptured tubal pregnancies.

OBJECTIVE: The use of methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of tubal ectopic pregnancy (EP) has become common practice, although the factors associated with a favorable outcome are not totally clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of successful MTX treatment. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-seven women with unruptured tubal EP in whom the hematosalpinx could be directly visualized by pelvic ultrasound were studied. Women who met the inclusion criteria were treated with MTX either: 50 mg/m(2) intramuscularly (n = 70) or with 1 mg/kg injected directly into the hematosalpinx under sonographic guidance (n = 67). The associations between the outcome of the treatment and different factors studied (human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level, progesterone level, hematosalpinx diameter, hemoperitoneum volume and mode of MTX administration) were analyzed. RESULTS: The overall success rate, defined by a post-treatment normal hCG level (< 10 mIU/mL), was 79.6%. The initial hCG level and the route of administration of MTX appeared to be two independent factors that predicted success. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the success rate was significantly better when MTX was administered locally: the odds ratio (OR) was 9.7 (95% CI, 3.1-30), and was significantly poorer when the hCG level was >/= 1000 mIU/mL (P < 0.002): the OR was 0.10 (95% CI, 0.07-0.49). CONCLUSION: Among selected women with tubal EPs, the route of administration of MTX and the initial level of serum hCG are the most important factors associated with the success of medical treatment.

[Hysteroscopic resection of submucous myomas: long term results]. / Résection hystéroscopique des myomes sous muqueux: résultats à long-terme.

STUDY AIM: To evaluate the follow-up after operative hysteroscopic resection of submucous leiomyomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between January 1990 and December 1996, 200 patients underwent operative hysteroscopic resection of 289 uterine leiomyomas. Indications were: menometrorrhagia (n = 159), postmenopausal metrorrhagia (n = 22), infertility (n = 19) as sole etiology. Sixteen patients had infertility and menometrorrhagia. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 33.4 +/- 19.2 months. Twenty-three patients were lost to follow-up. Due to the large size of the leiomyomas, 35 patients had 2 or 3 resections and a total of 241 hysteroscopic resections were performed. Twelve complications (5%) occurred without death or need for intensive care. An improvement of clinical symptoms was observed in 74% of patients. The predictive factors of failure were: size (> 5 cm), number of intracavitary leiomyomas (> 3), hysterometry (> 12 cm), intramural myoma class 2 and association of leiomyomas. Eight of the 35 infertile patients subsequently became pregnant, but with only two live births (5.8%). CONCLUSION: Hysteroscopic myomectomy appears to be safe, effective and reproducible for the treatment of menstrual disorders. Intramural class 2 and larger leiomyomas constitute the limits of the endoscopic technique.

Thermal balloon ablation versus endometrial resection for the treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding.

This study compares the clinical efficacy and safety of a thermal uterine balloon system with hysteroscopic endometrial resection in the treatment of dysfunctional uterine bleeding. In all, 147 women were treated by two experienced gynaecological surgeons: one performed 73 thermal balloon ablations and the other 74 endometrial resections between November 1994 and April 1998. The inclusion criteria were similar in both groups. The operative time was reduced significantly with the uterine balloon technique. There were no intra-operative complications in either group and postoperative morbidities were minimal and not statistically different. Multivariate analysis noted two prognostic factors associated with failures: retroverted uterus with thermal balloon ablation and age under 43 years with endometrial resection. The overall success rate did not differ significantly between the two groups 83.0 +/- 5% for balloon ablation and 76.3 +/- 6% for endometrial resection. Uterine balloon ablation appears to be as efficacious as endometrial resection. The former is much easier to perform, making the technique readily reproducible, especially by those with limited expertise in hysteroscopic surgery, and thus more widely applicable and safer.

Hysteroscopic treatment of severe Asherman's syndrome and subsequent fertility.

In a retrospective case report series, we evaluated the efficacy of hysteroscopic adhesiolysis in patients with severe Asherman's syndrome. In 31 patients with permanent severe adhesions, hysteroscopic treatment was performed. In all patients, uterine cavity with at least one free ostial area was restored after one (n = 16), two (n = 7), three (n = 7), and four (n = 1) surgical procedures. All previously amenorrhoeic patients (n = 16) had resumption of menses. Twenty-eight patients were followed-up with a mean time of 31 months (range 2-84). Fifteen pregnancies were obtained in 12 patients and the outcomes were the following: two first trimester missed abortions, three second trimester fetal losses, one second trimester termination of pregnancy for multiple fetal abnormalities and nine live births in nine different patients. Pregnancy rate after treatment was 12/28 (42.8%) and live birth rate was 9/28 (32.1%). In patients 35 years (P = 0. 01). Three patients were lost to follow-up and their results omitted. In nine patients with live births, one Caesarean hysterectomy for placenta accreta and one hypogastric arteries ligation for severe haemorrhage and placenta accreta were performed. Hysteroscopic treatment of severe Asherman's syndrome appeared to be effective for the reconstruction of a functional uterine cavity with a 42.8% pregnancy rate. However, these pregnancies were at risk for haemorrhage with abnormal placentation.

Laparoscopic management of organic ovarian cysts: is there a place for frozen section diagnosis?

Only benign ovarian cysts can be treated by laparoscopic surgery. Although clinical examination and the results of pre-operative work-up do make a real contribution in indicating the benign or malignant nature of cysts, only histology can provide the absolute diagnosis. In this context, the goal of this study was to establish whether there is any advantage in performing frozen section during laparoscopic surgical management of organic ovarian cysts. Between January 1989 and March 1996, 228 patients underwent an adnexectomy for an ovarian mass. After the pre-operative work-up and the diagnostic phase of laparoscopy, 26 patients (11.4%) presented with suspected signs of malignancy restricted purely to the ovary. These 26 patients underwent a laparoscopic adnexectomy with extraction of the excised tissues using an endoscopic bag, followed by frozen section. For all these patients the results of the frozen section concluded that the lesion was benign. In every case the definitive histological results confirmed the frozen section findings. This strategy enabled us to avoid laparotomy, especially for the nine post-menopausal patients whose adnexal masses appeared to be complex by ultrasound. These encouraging preliminary results need to be confirmed by a larger series of patients, so as to specify the place of frozen section in the laparoscopic surgical management of organic ovarian cysts.

Salpingo-oophorectomy for adnexal masses. Place and results for operative laparoscopy.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to specify the place, modalities and results of operative laparoscopy when adnexectomy is indicated in a patient presenting with an adnexal mass. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of the 186 patients who underwent adnexectomy for an adnexal mass between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1994. RESULTS: The operation took place via laparotomy in 34.9% of cases (65 patients) and by laparoscopic surgery in 65.1% of cases (121 patients). All the patients presenting a malignant ovarian lesion (15 cases) were operated by laparotomy. For these patients the laparotomy was decided from the outset in 7 cases and there was a conversion to laparotomy decided during the diagnostic phase of laparoscopy in 8 cases. The preoperative workup (clinical examination, study of past history, trans vaginal ultrasonography, doppler, tumoral markers etc.) together with the diagnostic phase of laparoscopy provide 100% sensitivity, a positive predictive value of 50% and a negative predictive value of 100% for diagnosis of malignancy. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that provided a strict selection system is used, it is possible to carry out adnexectomy using laparoscopic surgery in 70.8% of cases (121/171) for patients with benign adnexal mass.

Hysterectomy with adnexectomy. Can operative laparoscopy offer advantages?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether laparoscopic surgery has the advantage of reducing the rate of laparotomies when a patient with no genital prolapse needs a total hysterectomy associated with unilateral and bilateral adnexectomy. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study carried out between January 1993 and December 1995. All patients (96) with no prolapse, pelvic floor relaxation or stress urinary incontinence and scheduled for total hysterectomy with adnexectomy were included in the study. RESULTS: Laparotomy was required in 12.5% of cases (12 patients). For the 84 patients (87.5%) who underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy, the mean duration of the operation was 142.6 +/- 33.9 minutes, and the mean uterine weight was 209.7 +/- 129.4 g. The rate of laparotomy dropped steadily as the surgeon acquired experience. Whereas the rate of laparotomy was 30.5% (7 patients) in 1993, it was 10.8% (4 patients) in 1994 and fell to 2.8% (1 patient) in 1995. CONCLUSION: When adnexectomy needs to be performed with hysterectomy, in the majority of cases it should be carried out by laparotomy. Operative laparoscopy enables the rate of laparotomy to be reduced to < 15%. The existence of an adnexal mass not suspected to be malignant indicates operative laparoscopy.

[Is the treatment of ectopic pregnancy still exclusively surgical?]. / Le traitement de la grossesse extra-utérine est-il encore exclusivement chirurgical?

At the end of the 19th century, ectopic pregnancy became a surgical procedure. A century later, one third of ectopic pregnancies are treated medically. In the meantime, early detection of ectopic pregnancy became possible due to sensitive serum hCG and progesterone combined assays with transvaginal sonography and a knowledge of risk factors. Consequently, a nonsurgical approach appears to be an attractive alternative to surgery. Expectant management is recommended with a plateau or decreasing hCG and an initial level < or = 1.000 mIU/ml in asymptomatic women. Medical treatment by local or parenteral methotrexate is recommended in patients with clear evidence of an unruptured pregnancy in based on initial hCG and progesterone level, size of hemoperitoneum, ultrasound diameter of hematosalpinx and absence of clinical pain. Laparoscopy remains the gold standard but in prospective randomized trials between medical treatment and laparoscopy, in selected patients, the non-surgical approach appears to be equivalent with a similar reproductive performance.

Place and modalities of laparoscopy in surgical management of suspected adnexal masses.

Only benign adnexal masses are suitable for treatment by operative laparoscopy. Ovarian cancer must always be managed by midline laparotomy. In our experience the preoperative workup (clinical examination, study of past history, trans vaginal ultrasonography, doppler, tumoral markers etc.) together with the diagnostic phase of laparoscopy provide a sensitivity value of 100%, a positive predictive value of 50% and a negative predictive value of 100% for diagnosis of malignancy. Provided a strict selection, laparoscopy is reliable both for the diagnosis and the management of benign ovarian masses.

Treatment of adnexal torsion using operative laparoscopy.

The aim of this work was to clarify the value and application of operative laparoscopic treatment for adnexal torsion. We included in our study all patients (n = 27) who presented with an intra-operative diagnosis of torsion of the adnexa between January 1989 and May 1995. A total of 28 adnexal torsions were treated. Treatment was carried out by laparoscopic surgery in 75% of cases (21 torsions): in one-half of the cases (14 torsions) it was possible to achieve conservative laparoscopic treatment. The nature of the lesions and the experience of the surgeons are two factors which closely govern the outcome of surgical treatment. For those patients presenting a benign pathology, laparoscopic surgery was used to treat 84% of cases in the series. All the patients presenting a benign pathology and operated upon since 1993 have received laparoscopic surgical treatment. No major complications (peritonitis, thrombotic emboli, coagulation problems) were observed after conservative laparoscopic surgery. These results demonstrate that, provided the surgeons are sufficiently experienced, treatment by conservative laparoscopic surgery for adnexal torsion is both safe and reliable. In the years to come more work must be done to assess the vitality of the adnexa so that as many patients as possible can benefit from conservative treatment.