Lack of Survival Benefit of Para-Aortic Lymphadenectomy in Advanced Cervical Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: The presence of positive para-aortic lymph nodes in advanced cervical cancer remains the most important prognostic factor for survival and also defines the treatment. Our aim was to define the influence of staging para-aortic lymphadenectomy in patients' survival. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The medical records of 74 patients with advanced cervical cancer (FIGO IIB-IVA) were reviewed. In 31 patients (41.9%), the assessment of lymph nodes was performed with imaging test (group 1) and in 43 (58.1%) within a surgical staging para-aortic lymphadenectomy (group 2). We compared both groups according to stage of disease, treatment, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The extended-field radiotherapy was performed in 44.2 and 19.4% of patients in surgical and imaging staging group, respectively (p = 0.045). The disease-free survival rate was 17.4 ± 17.4 months in group 1 and 14.4 ± 12.6 months in group 2 (p = 0.456). No differences in OS were found between these 2 groups (p = 0.676). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the higher diagnostic accuracy of surgical staging and the higher number of patient who received extended field radiotherapy, we did not find differences between the overall and PFS rates in both the studied groups. Further prospective study on a higher number of patients would be necessary.

Ausencia de lesión intraepitelial en piezas de conización / Related factors to absence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in the conization specimen

Resumen OBJETIVO: Investigar las posibles causas de los conos blancos, establecer estrategias para disminuir su incidencia y desarrollar protocolos de seguimiento. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Estudio observacional, retrospectivo, de casos y controles. Se incluyeron las pacientes a quienes se efectuó una conización en el Hospital Universitario La Paz. Las variables analizadas más importantes fueron: anatomía patológica de la pieza y su relación con la biopsia y citologías previas, longitud del cono, presencia o no de artefacto y de cervicitis. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizaron: χ2, prueba exacta de Fisher, t de Student, U de Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis y Kolmogorov-Smirnov. RESULTADOS: Se integraron dos grupos: 371 conos positivos (85.9%) y 61 negativos (14.1%), con diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la citología, colposcopia y biopsia. Hubo mayor porcentaje de lesiones de menor grado en las pacientes con conización blanca. La longitud del cono fue menor en el grupo de análisis y en éste también se observó mayor porcentaje de cervicitis y artefactos. CONCLUSIONES: Las causas de lesión residual luego de una conización son variadas y difíciles de demostrar. Las pacientes con citología anómala e inflamación o atrofia deben recibir tratamiento para evitar falsos positivos y mejorar la técnica quirúrgica para impedir artefactos.

Abstract OBJECTIVES: to investigate the possible causes of the negative cones, to establish strategies to reduce their incidence and to develop monitoring protocols. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective observational cases and controls study of 432 conizations made in the Hospital Universitario La Paz (HULP) between 2013 and 2015. The most important analysed variables were the pathological anatomy of the piece and its relationship with the biopsy and previous cytology, the cone length, as well as the presence and artefact and cervicitis. The analysis it was used Chi - Square and Fisher´s test, T-Student, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis and Kolmogorov- Smirnov. RESULTS: There are two groups: 371 positive (85,9%) and 61 negative cones (14,1%). We find statistically significant differences in the cytology, colposcopy and biopsy pre-conization, finding a major percentage of injuries of lesser degree in the patients with negative cone. The length of the cone was lower in the analysis group and in this we also observed a greater percentage of cervicitis and artefacts. CONCLUSIONS: The causes that make the remaining injury not appear after a diagnosed and/or therapeutic conization are a wide variety and difficult to prove. We should try to treat the patients with inflammation or atrophy to avoid false positives in the cytology and biopsy, improve the surgical technique to avoid artefacts and perform conservative management of low-risk injuries.

[Laparoscopic removal of primary intestinal fibroid]. / Extirpación laparoscópica de mioma intestinal primario.

Uterine fibroids are the most frequent solid benign tumors of the female pelvis. The most frequent location is the uterine corpus; however, it has been also reported in cervical placement and broad ligament. Rarely it has been reported a case of intestinal fibroid after previous history of myomectomy. We report the case of a patient, with no surgical history of interest, who underwent a diagnostic laparoscopy due to suspicion of malignant abdominal mass. Ajejunal fibroid was found, which was removed via laparoscopy without complications. Laparoscopy may be considered in case of intestinal fibriod despite its rarity, due to the better postoperative recovery and cosmetic outcomes compared to laparotomy.

Surgical outcome of extraperitoneal paraaortic lymph node dissections compared with transperitoneal approach in gynecologic cancer patients.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the surgical outcome of extraperitoneal paraaortic lymph node dissection compared with the traditional transperitoneal approach. DESIGN: Retrospective review (Canadian Task Force classification III). SETTING: University hospital. PATIENTS: Women with gynecologic malignancies admitted to our hospital between 2007 and 2011 who underwent laparoscopic paraaortic lymphadenectomy. INTERVENTIONS: Indication, diagnosis, and outcome according to type of surgery were evaluated. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 47 patients who underwent laparoscopic paraaortic lymphadenectomy because of gynecologic indications, 28 patients underwent extraperitoneal paraaortic lymph node dissection and 19 underwent the same procedure via the classic transperitoneal technique. The most frequent indication for extraperitoneal lymph node dissection was cervical cancer (71.4%), and for the transperitoneal technique was endometrial cancer (47.4%). The mean (SD) duration of surgery was 211 (38) minutes in the transperitoneal approach group, and 173 (51) minutes in the extraperitoneal lymphadenectomy group (p = .009). No significant differences between groups were found in the number of lymph nodes removed (15 [5.9] nodes in the extraperitoneal group vs 17.4 [8.6] in the transperitoneal group; p = .25). However, a higher rate of positive nodes was observed in the extraperitoneal group than in the transperitoneal group (42.8% vs 36.2%, respectively [p = .001]), and a significantly shorter stay in the intensive care unit in the extraperitoneal group (0.59 [0.5] vs 1.1 [0.5] days, respectively; p = .02). No significant differences in complication rate were found between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Extraperitoneal paraaortic lymph node dissection is a minimally invasive procedure that is an excellent and safe approach to the paraaortic area, with a low complication rate, sufficient number of lymph nodes, and short hospital stay. It seems to be a good alternative to the classic transperitoneal approach.