Role of an IUCD in managing patients with post-LLETZ cervical stenosis.

Large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) is one of the fertility sparing treatments for people with high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, however, this procedure is known to increase the risk of postoperative cervical stenosis by 1.3%-5.2%. We present a case demonstrating the successful use of a copper intrauterine contraceptive device to manage a patient with cervical stenosis secondary to three LLETZ procedures for severe dyskaryosis.

Thermal Ablation of High-Grade Premalignant Disease of the Cervix-Standing the Test of Time: A Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: Analyze long-term (20 years) cytology and histology outcomes after treatment of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (HGCIN) with thermal ablation (TA). METHODS: All women having TA for HGCIN between January 1996 and December 1998 (36 months; N = 885) were identified; data were collected on age of patients, symptoms, colposcopy findings, and biopsy reports. Local and national (cytology and colposcopy) databases and colposcopy records were used to collect long-term follow-up data. Probability of CIN recurrence was assessed using Kaplan-Meier "survival" curve. RESULTS: Follow-up data (available for 796) was collected in 2018 capturing 20 years of follow-up data. Two hundred eighty-one women were treated for CIN 2 and 515 women for CIN 3. Seven hundred ninety-one of 796 (>99%) were treated at first visit. Two hundred sixty two of 796 (33%) had evidence of crypt involvement on pretreatment biopsy. Probability of having consistently normal cytological follow-up was 92%, 89%, 86%, and 83% at 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, respectively. Cumulative probability of having recurrent HGCIN was 0.5% at 5 years, 1% at 10 years, 1.9% at 15 years, and 3% at 18 years. There was 1 invasive squamous cell cancer at 11 years after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Thermal ablation is a safe and effective treatment for HGCIN, which is now shown to have stood the test of time. We advise more widespread adoption in the United Kingdom and globally so long as agreed criteria are met.

Morbidly obese patient with endometrial cancer treated by bariatric surgery to enable cancer treatment.

The case demonstrates the use of bariatric surgery to improve a patient's candidacy for surgical treatment for endometrial cancer (EC). A 50-year-old morbidly obese woman with early-stage EC was initially treated with levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (52 mg) . She had to reduce her body mass index (BMI) to become eligible for definite EC treatment. Using conservative methods, she was unable to lose weight effectively. She then underwent bariatric surgery that reduced her BMI from 71.3 to 54.3 kg/m2 She maintained her weight and was eligible for total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy. Her procedure was successful and had no complications. She has 6-monthly follow-ups, and the most recent review showed no evidence of recurrence.

Experiences of cervical screening participation and non-participation in women from minority ethnic populations in Scotland.

BACKGROUND: The introduction of screening in the UK and other high-income countries led to a significant decrease in the incidence of cervical cancer and increase in survival rates. Minority ethnic groups are often underrepresented in screening participation for reasons that are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To explore experiences of cervical screening participation and non-participation of women from minority ethnic populations in Scotland and gain insights to support the development of interventions that could potentially support screening participation and thereby reduce inequalities. DESIGN: Qualitative comparison group study using in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews that were thematically analysed. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This study took place in Scotland. Fifty women were purposively sampled from four ethnic minority groups: South Asian; East European; Chinese; and Black African or Caribbean. White Scottish women were also interviewed. RESULTS: Many experiences described were common regardless of ethnicity, such as difficulties managing competing priorities, including work and care responsibilities. However, important differences existed across the groups. These included going abroad for more frequent screening, delayed introduction to screening and not accessing primary care services, language difficulties in health-care settings despite proficiency in English and not being sexually active at screening commencement. Experiences of racism, ignorance and feeling shamed were also reported. CONCLUSIONS: Key differences exist in the experience of minority ethnic groups in Scotland. These offer potential opportunities to reduce disparity and support screening participation including maximizing co-incidental interactions and developing outreach work.

Novel use of laparoscopic-guided TAP block in total laparoscopic hysterectomy.

BACKGROUND: Transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block is a peripheral nerve block designed to anaesthetise the nerves supplying the anterolateral abdominal wall (T6 to L1). We introduced laparoscopic TAP block at Ninewells Hospital in 2014 and present a retrospective study assessing its efficacy. To our knowledge, there is limited study done on laparoscopic-guided TAP block whilst there are abundant literatures available on ultrasound-guided TAP block. AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic-guided TAP block as postoperative analgesia following total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH). METHODOLOGY: A retrospective study was done between November 2014 to October 2016 (24 months) comparing patients who had TLH with TAP block (Group 1; n = 45) and patients who had TLH without TAP block (Group 2; n = 31) in our gynaecology unit. Patients were identified from theatre database. Data was collected from clinical portal and medical notes. The data included demographic information, BMI, METS score, intra-operative opiates use, post-operative pain scores, opiate requirements and use of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), total dose of opiates used and day of discharge. The outcomes were analysed using means, odds ratios (OR), Mann-Whitney U-test and Fisher's exact or Chi-square test with 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Patients in Group 1 were older (mean age of 64.4, range 38-87) when compared to Group 2 (mean age of 49.3, range 37-81). Group 1 and 2 had comparable mean BMI (30.34 vs. 30.02) and METS score (6.77 vs. 7.76). Mean post-operative pain scores were lower in Group 1 within 4 hours, in periods of 4-12 hours, 12-24 hours and 24-48 hours post-op. Smaller proportion of patients in Group 1 required opiates post-operatively in all periods as compared to Group 2. This was statistically significant in the periods of 12-24 hours post-op (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.11-0.82; p = .01). PCA use was significantly lower in Group 1 (OR 0.02, 95% CI 0.0014-0.46; p = .01). Group 1 had lower mean total dose of opiates used (27.182 mg, range 0-102 mg) than Group 2 (59.452 mg, range 0-240 mg), which was statistically significant (p < .0001). Average post-op hospital stay was 1.3 and 1.8 days in Group 1 and 2, respectively. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic-guided TAP block delivered as post-operative analgesia following TLH results in reduced opiate requirement at post-operative period 12-24 hours, reduced PCA use and lower total dose of opiates used.

Early and late vulval cancer recurrences: Are they different?

Vulval cancers are rare, but after primary treatment, known to recur with a high frequency (30%). Clinico-pathological predictors of recurrence have been established to a great extent. However, there is paucity of literature on predictors of early versus late recurrence. We sought to identify such predictors through a retrospective study of vulval cancer recurrences in a single cancer centre over 11 years. Age of women, depth of invasion/site of primary tumour and presence of background VIN/lichen sclerosus do not appear to affect timing of recurrence. However, vulval cancers that recur after 2 years of primary tumour recognition are more likely to be well-differentiated tumours, have undergone radical surgery and have had a closest disease-free margin >1 cm. Late recurrences are entirely local rather than distant metastases and this translates into a better survival as shown in our study (40 months median survival in the early group versus 112 in the late recurrence group).

Primary vaginal non-Hodgkin lymphoma: gynecologic diagnosis of a hematologic malignancy.

BACKGROUND: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) predominantly affects the lymph nodes and bone marrow. Extranodal sites of NHL include the thymus, spleen, and Waldeyer ring. Very rarely NHL affects the gynecologic tract (<0.5%), and secondary spread is more common than primary involvement. CASE REPORT: We report a case of primary NHL of the vagina diagnosed in a young woman who presented with a painless vaginal mass. Although the initial clinical diagnosis was that of an inflamed Gartner duct, atypical presentation of the mass prompted further imaging, such as pelvic ultrasonographic imaging and magnetic resonance imaging. The latter showed presence of similar masses in the posterior cervix and vagina, and after a multidisciplinary team discussion, biopsy of the mass showed primary vaginal NHL. Subsequently, we referred her to hematologists who commenced chemotherapy. Only 57 cases of primary vaginal NHL have been reported in the literature, and our case elucidates the workup of atypical vaginal masses to facilitate a diagnosis and appropriate management. CONCLUSIONS: NHL of the female genital tract is uncommon. Early diagnosis translates to better survival for these women because extranodal NHLs bear a worse prognosis when compared with that of nodal lymphomas mainly owing to delay in diagnosis.

Double cervical ostia after large loop excision of transformation zone.

BACKGROUND: Large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) is the preferred treatment modality among colposcopists for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. We report a unique case of cervical septum after LLETZ and the subsequent management. CASE: Large loop excision of the transformation zone was performed on a young woman for a severely dyskaryotic cervical smear and colposcopic impression of high-grade abnormality. At her 6-month follow-up, double cervical ostium was seen resulting from cervical septum formation. This was surgically divided to enable a single cervical ostium for future smear taking and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: This case report is to make clinicians aware of a rare complication such as double cervical ostium after LLETZ and its management.

Increased incidence of visceral metastases in scottish patients with BRCA1/2-defective ovarian cancer: an extension of the ovarian BRCAness phenotype.

PURPOSE: To compare the frequency of visceral relapse of BRCA1/2-deficient ovarian cancer to that of nonhereditary controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients diagnosed in Scotland with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) or primary peritoneal cancer (PPC) and a germline BRCA1/2 mutation were identified. Those with previous malignancy were excluded. Each remaining patient who experienced relapse was matched with two nonhereditary controls. RESULTS: Seventy-nine patients with EOC/PPC and germline BRCA1/2 mutations were identified. Fifteen had inadequate clinical data, two had carcinosarcoma, 27 had previous breast cancer, and 16 were in remission. Of the remaining 19 patients who were BRCA1/2 deficient, 14 patients (74%) developed visceral metastases compared with six (16%) of 38 patients in the control group. The percentages of liver, lung, and splenic metastases were 53%, 32%, and 32%, respectively, in the patients compared with 5%, 3%, and 5%, respectively, in the controls. When events occurring outside the matched follow-up period were omitted, the percentages of visceral, liver, lung, and splenic metastases were 58%, 42%, 16%, and 32% in the patients compared with 5%, 0%, 0%, and 3% in controls (P < .001, P < .001, P = .066, and P = .011, respectively). In an independent validation set, the corresponding percentages of visceral, liver, lung, and splenic metastases were 63%, 46%, 13%, and 17% in the patients compared with 11%, 4%, 2%, and 2% in controls (P < .001, P < .001, P = .153, and P = .052, respectively). CONCLUSION: Although sporadic EOC commonly remains confined to the peritoneum, BRCA1/2-deficient ovarian cancer frequently metastasizes to viscera. These data extend the ovarian BRCAness phenotype, imply BRCA1/2-deficient ovarian cancer is biologically distinct, and suggest that patients with visceral metastases should be considered for BRCA1/2 sequencing.