Oncologic outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopy versus conventional laparoscopy for the treatment of apparent early-stage endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the uterus.

OBJECTIVE: To compare long-term oncologic outcomes in patients with clinically uterine-confined endometrioid endometrial cancer who underwent surgical staging with robot-assisted (RA) versus conventional laparoscopy. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with newly diagnosed, uterine-confined endometrioid endometrial cancer who were treated and had primary surgery at our institution between 1/1/2009-1/1/2018. Clinicopathologic, surgical, and survival data were collected. Appropriate statistical methods were applied. RESULTS: Of 1728 patients identified, 1389 (80.4%) underwent RA and 339 (19.6%) conventional laparoscopy. At diagnosis, median age was 60 years (range, 24-92) and median BMI was 30.2 kg/m2 (range, 15.1-71.5). In the RA group, patients had longer operative time (170 vs 152 min, P < .001), lower conversion rate to laparotomy (0.6% vs 4.7%, P < .001), and a higher proportion had a BMI > 40 kg/m2 (17.2% vs 11.5%, P = .01) and same-day discharge (19.2% vs 5.3%, P < .001). Overall, 93% (RA) and 90% (conventional) of patients underwent lymph node assessment (P = .1). Comparing the RA versus conventional groups, final surgical stage on pathology (P = .6), median follow-up (55.7 vs 52.9 months, P = .4), and rates of perioperative complications (9.9% vs 7.7%, P = .6), recurrence (9.5% vs 7.4%, P = .3), 5-year PFS (88.5% vs 91.0%, P = .3), and 5-year OS (92.5% vs 92.4%, P = .7) were not significantly different. No significant increase in risk of recurrence (HR = 1.2, 95% CI: 0.8-1.9, P = .3) or poorer OS outcomes (HR = 0.9, 95% CI: 0.6-1.4, P = .7) were observed in the RA group. CONCLUSION: In uterine-confined endometrioid endometrial cancers, surgical staging using RA laparoscopy was not associated with adverse survival outcomes compared to conventional laparoscopy.

Early Abdominal Ectopic Pregnancy Masquerading as a Missed Miscarriage.

A 43-year-old lady, gravida 2 para 0, presented to our emergency department with complaints of vaginal bleeding and lower abdominal pain. Her urine pregnancy test was positive. She was unable to recall her last menstrual period. A trans-vaginal ultrasound revealed a pregnancy with a crown rump length of 47 mm corresponding to 11.4 weeks with no fetal heartbeat detected. She was diagnosed with a missed miscarriage and was sent for a second confirmatory scan. The repeat scan was concordant with the initial scan and she was counseled for an evacuation of uterus. Her serum beta human chorionic gonadotropin level was 45,195 IU/L and her hemoglobin level was 6.5 g/dL. She underwent an evacuation of uterus as planned, but the Hegar dilator was only able to be advanced to a cavity length of 6 cm with minimal products of conception obtained. A bedside ultrasound was performed and it showed that the Hegar dilator was in the uterine cavity but not in continuity with the gestational sac and fetus. The diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy was made and the surgery was converted to a diagnostic laparoscopy. On entry into the abdominal cavity, there was frank hemoperitoneum with adhesions limiting access to the pelvis, therefore decision was made to convert to laparotomy. The findings at laparotomy revealed a large inflamed left tubo-ovarian complex with tubal rupture and expulsion of the entire fetus and placenta into the Pouch of Douglas (POD). The diagnosis of a secondary implantation of the ectopic pregnancy in the POD after tubal rupture was confirmed and we performed adhesiolysis and left salpingectomy. The patient recovered uneventfully and the final histology showed products of conception within the lumen of the left fallopian tube in keeping with ruptured tubal ectopic pregnancy.

Successful removal of uterine leiomyosarcoma tumour thrombus propagating to the right atrium.

Although intravenous leiomyomatosis is widely documented, intravenous extension of leiomyosarcoma into the inferior vena cava (IVC) and subsequently into the right atrium is extremely rare. Less than five such cases have been reported in the literature worldwide. Uterine leiomyosarcoma is an aggressive smooth muscle tumour occurring with an incidence of 1% in all female genital tract cancers and comprises about 3-7% of uterine cancers. It carries a generally poor prognosis with 5-year survival rates ranging from 18.8% to 65% across all stages. We report a case of primary uterine leiomyosarcoma with intravascular tumour propagation extending to the renal vein, IVC and right atrium of the heart, which was successfully resected in a one stage operation by a multidisciplinary team. This case demonstrates the importance of preoperative radiological staging and multidisciplinary planning.