Efficacy Analysis of Wandai Decoction Combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine Fumigation and Washing in Patients with Chronic Vaginitis After Sintilimab Treatment for Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Wandai decoction combined with traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and washing in patients with chronic vaginitis after sintilimab treatment for small cell lung cancer. Methods: We recruited 80 patients who developed chronic vaginitis after sintilimab treatment for small cell lung cancer from Hainan General Hospital from January 2020 to June 2022; using a random number table, 40 were assigned to a control group and 40 were assigned to an observation group. The control group was treated with Wandai decoction, and the observation group was treated with Wandai decoction combined with traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and washing. The 2 groups were compared for improvement of the symptoms of vulvar pruritus subsidence time, leukorrhea recovery time, and traditional Chinese medicine symptom score; levels of the vaginal microecological environment factors immunoglobulin G, secretory immunoglobulin A, and pH; levels of the serum inflammatory factors C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6; and clinical efficacy. Results: After treatment, the observation group had significantly higher vulvar pruritus subsidence time, leukorrhea recovery time, traditional Chinese medicine symptom score, and pH value; significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6; and significantly higher levels of immunoglobulin G, secretory immunoglobulin A, and total effective rate compared with the control group (all P < .0.001). Conclusions: Wandai decoction combined with traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and washing was effective in treating chronic vaginitis after sintilimab treatment for small cell lung cancer. The treatment ameliorated symptoms of leukorrhea abnormalities, vulvar pruritus, and local inflammation, and promoted the recovery of the vaginal microbial environment. Despite the limitations of our study (small sample size and lack of comparison between different types of chronic vaginitis, which hinders the confirmation of extensive efficacy), we consider Wandai decoction combined with traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and washing worthy of promotion and application in clinical practice.

Exosomal miR-202 derived from leukorrhea as a potential biomarker for endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: Endometriosis (EMS) is a chronic gynecological disorder with an urgent need of a reliable non-invasive diagnostic strategy. Recently, there has been increasing interest in using the contents of exosomes, especially exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs), as potential biomarkers for various types of diseases. In this study, we assessed the differentially expressed miRNAs in exosomes derived from primary normal and ectopic endometrial cells. METHODS: We used miRNA microarray analysis to identify differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs. Among the selected exosomal miRNAs, we focused on hsa-miR-202-3p and hsa-miR-202-5p and validated their expression levels using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. We then further examined their expression in exosomes derived from vaginal discharge (leukorrhea) from patients with EMS and the negative control group. RESULTS: The data show that hsa-miR-202-3p and hsa-miR-202-5p were expressed significantly higher in leukorrhea-derived exosomes from EMS patients compared with the negative controls. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results suggest that leukorrhea-derived exosomal hsa-miR-202 could serve as a potential useful biomarker for diagnosing EMS.

Knowledge on ethnogynaecology of Indian Tribes- a comprehensive review.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ethnogynaecology is an emerging branch of science dealing with the treatment of gynaecological ailments by tribals, local healers, and traditional practitioners. The ethnogynaecological importance of medicinal plants in India is a fertile area to conduct more scientific studies to evaluate their potentialities, to isolate bioactive compounds, and thereby to develop drugs for the common gynaecological health-related issues faced by women everywhere. OBJECTIVES: The Indigenous medical knowledge systems of India have not been properly documented with special reference to ethnogynaecology. This review aims to document the knowledge of ethnogynaecology among tribals, villagers, and local people inhabiting different parts of India and the bioactive compounds responsible for the action. This review provides a vast record of medicinal plants and their parts used, types of formulations, dosage, and ethno-gynaecological usage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The detailed investigation of ethnobotanical and ethnogynaecological-related literature published between 1985 and 2021 by different scientific tools such as journals, books, and current electronic databases like Springer Link, SciFinder, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Wiley, ACS, Science Direct and Pubmed have been considered for the present study. The study included 300 articles published between 1985 and 2021 by scientific search using various standard databases. The tribals, vaidyas, traditional practitioners, indigenous medical healers, and local people of different regions in India have recognized the importance of ethnogynaecological uses of plants. The study on ethnogynaecology is limited to a few common but significant gynaecological issues including abortion, contraception, infertility, menstruation, leucorrhoea, and obstetrics. The phytocompound compounds isolated from various parts of the plants and responsibility for the gynaecological action were documented. RESULTS: The major ethnogynaecological disorders recorded by various studies are leucorrhoea, abortion, contraceptives, infertility and related issues, and obstetrics including the irregular physiological process of menstruation. The ethnogynaecological and ethnobotanical information has been recorded from almost all the states of India; the highest number of records on ethnogynaecology was reported from the state of Madhya Pradesh. The most explored tribal populations to record ethnogynaecological knowledge belong to the following tribes: Bhil, Munda, Irula, Kani, Malayali, Meena, Paliyar, Muthuvar, Oraon, Narikuravar, Mannan, Malayarayan, and Malapandaram. Moreover, limited or no study has been attempted to prove the knowledge of ethnogynaecology of these tribes and the efficiency of their crude drugs against pharmacological actions. The paste prepared from various parts of the plants has been used widely as primary health care materials for abortion, obstetrics, menstruation, female infertility and male infertility. Phenols, glucoside, steroids and fatty acids reported with cytotoxic activities are connected to several gynaecological disorders whereas flavonoid, coumarin, sitosterol disrupt pregnancy. The phenolic compounds induced spontaneous abortion due to the major composition aristolochic acid, ceryl alcohol, ß-sitosterol. Coreopsin, butin, isobutrin, monospermoside, palastrin, butrin. Mucunine, lecithin, prurieninine, gluthione and luteolin, Indicine, kaempferol, apigenin and quercetin effected therapeutic activity against leucorrhoea. Lignin, friedelin and beta-sitosterol are reported with abortifacient properties and therapeutic ability for leucorrhoea and menorrhagia. Tannins, mimusopsic acids, taraxerol and spinaserol effected fertility problems in women and tannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids and alkaloids which effected infertility. CONCLUSION: This review reported comprehensive data on ethnogynaecological knowledge published from available literature and evident that the indigenous medical system of Indian tribes has also contributed considerably to the healthcare system and drug development of India. The fresh plant parts were identified as effective materials against various gynaecological illnesses including infertility. The root is considered an excellent plant part against obstetrics followed by abortion, menstruation, and leucorrhoea. These studies need experimental proof as well as standardization to confirm their efficiency. Promoting the sustainable use and the equitable sharing of benefits to the knowledge provider is a pathway for harnessing the conservation of this knowledge.

Caracterización epidemiológica, clínica e histopatológica de los tumores malignos de cérvix en las pacientes sometidas a histerectomía radical tipo Wertheim-Meigs que acuden al servicio de Ginecología y Obstetricia del Hospital General San Juan de Dios, de Guatemala (enero 2017 a diciembre del 2018) / Epidemiological, clinical and histopathological characterization of malignant tumors of the cervix in patients undergoing Wertheim-Meigs radical hysterectomy who attend the Gynecology and Obstetrics service of the San Juan de Dios General Hospital, Guatemala (January 2017 to December 2018)

Los tumores malignos de cérvix continúan siendo un problema de salud pública para nuestro país, es por ello que se consideró de importancia realizar este estudio. Se estudiaron las características clínicas más frecuentes encontradas en las pacientes sometidas dentro de los cuales encontramos como principal motivo de consulta el dolor pélvico con un 86.75%, seguido del sangrado con un 84.34% finalizando con la leucorrea con el 79.52%. En cuanto a la clasificación de los tumores malignos se comprobó que la mayoría de las pacientes presentaron el estadio CaCu IB1 con el 91.57% seguido del CaCu IA1 con el 6.02% finalizando con el CaCu IB2 con el 2.41%. Así mismo, se pudo determinar que los tumores malignos de cérvix más frecuentes en las pacientes estudiadas fue el carcinoma epitelial, seguido del adenocarcinoma de cérvix, siendo su histopatología más encontrada el carcinoma epidermoide no queratinizante de células grandes con el 53.01%. (AU)

Uterine Cervical Cancer continues to be one of the main public health problems in Guatemala, thus being important to do this type of research. The most frequent clinical characteristics found in the present study were pelvic pain (86.75%) followed by bleeding in 84.34% and vaginal discharge in 79.52%. Most of the patients were classified as Stage IB1 (91.57%) followed by Stage IA1(6/02%) and Stage IB2 (2.41%). The most frequent Histologic Type was Squamous Carcinoma. (AU)

[Detection of white blood cells in microscopic leucorrhea images based on deep active learning].

The number of white blood cells in the leucorrhea microscopic image can indicate the severity of vaginal inflammation. At present, the detection of white blood cells in leucorrhea mainly relies on manual microscopy by medical experts, which is time-consuming, expensive and error-prone. In recent years, some studies have proposed to implement intelligent detection of leucorrhea white blood cells based on deep learning technology. However, such methods usually require manual labeling of a large number of samples as training sets, and the labeling cost is high. Therefore, this study proposes the use of deep active learning algorithms to achieve intelligent detection of white blood cells in leucorrhea microscopic images. In the active learning framework, a small number of labeled samples were firstly used as the basic training set, and a faster region convolutional neural network (Faster R-CNN) training detection model was performed. Then the most valuable samples were automatically selected for manual annotation, and the training set and the corresponding detection model were iteratively updated, which made the performance of the model continue to increase. The experimental results show that the deep active learning technology can obtain higher detection accuracy under less manual labeling samples, and the average precision of white blood cell detection could reach 90.6%, which meets the requirements of clinical routine examination.

Trichomonas Detection in Leucorrhea Based on VIBE Method.

Trichomonas examination is one of the important items in the leucorrhea routine detection. And it cannot be recognized by still images because of the unstable morphology and unfixed focal location caused by motion characteristic. We proposed an improved VIBE algorithm. 6 videos (totally 1414 frames) are collected for testing. In order to compare the effects of the algorithms, we segment each frame artificially as ground truth. Experiments show that percentage of correct classification (PCC) achieves 88%. The proposed improved method can effectively suppress the false detection caused by the formed components such as epithelial cells in the leucorrhea microscopic image and the missed detection caused by the background model update during the movement. At the same time, improvements can effectively suppress smear and ghost areas. The algorithm proposed in this paper can be integrated into the leucorrhea automatic detection system.

Qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de mulheres em cuidados paliativos em decorrência do câncer do colo do útero avançado / Health-related quality of life of women in palliative care resulting from advanced cervical cancer

Trata-se de um estudo descritivo, transversal e de abordagem quantitativa com o objetivo geral de avaliar o nível da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de mulheres em cuidados paliativos ambulatoriais em decorrência do câncer do colo do útero avançado. Objetivos específicos: caracterizar o perfil sociodemográfico e clínico de mulheres em cuidados paliativos ambulatoriais em decorrência do câncer do colo do útero avançado; analisar o nível de qualidade de vida de mulheres em cuidados paliativos ambulatoriais em decorrência do câncer do colo do útero avançado; analisar as relações entre a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de mulheres em cuidados paliativos ambulatoriais em decorrência do câncer do colo do útero avançado e as características sociodemográficas, clínicas e sintomas e discutir as contribuições para a prática de enfermagem na perspectiva da promoção da qualidade de vida. Participaram do estudo 60 mulheres com câncer do colo do útero avançado atendidas em um ambulatório de uma unidade hospitalar especializada em cuidados paliativos oncológicos do Rio de Janeiro. Foram aplicados dois instrumentos de coleta de dados: um referente aos dados sociodemográficos e clínicos e o instrumento de qualidade de vida European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnare-core 15 PAL (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL). Os dados foram analisados através de estatística descritiva uni e bivariada no software Stata® versão SE 13.0. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa conforme Resolução 466 de 12 de dezembro de 2012 do Ministério da Saúde, sendo aprovado sob o número 2.929.726. Os resultados apontaram que a maioria das mulheres possuía mais de 51 anos, se autodeclararam pardas ou pretas, sem parceiro, de religião evangélica, com renda familiar de 1 a 2 salários mínimos, ensino fundamental completo ou incompleto, KPS entre 70% a 50% e com doença pélvica avançada associada à metástase. Sangramento transvaginal e leucorreia com odor foram relatados, respectivamente, por 18,3% e 28,3% das mulheres. A prevalência de colostomia foi de 15,0%, nefrostomia 31,7%, fístula vesicovaginal 28,3% e fístula enterovaginal 11,7%. O escore médio de funcionamento físico foi de 52,5 e de 58,1 para funcionamento emocional. O sintoma com maior média (49,4 - carga moderada) foi a dor. A qualidade de vida global apresentou média de 64,7 e não foi encontrada sua associação com as variáveis sociodemográficas. Todos os sintomas apresentaram correlação negativa com o funcionamento físico e emocional, de maneira que escores mais altos de sintomas estavam relacionados a escores mais baixos de funcionamento físico e emocional. A qualidade de vida global apresentou correlação positiva com o funcionamento físico e emocional e negativa com os sintomas, de maneira que os escores mais altos de sintomas estavam relacionados à escores mais baixos de qualidade de vida global. Os resultados apontaram para o diagnóstico situacional da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde das mulheres com câncer do colo do útero avançado e seus fatores intervenientes contribuindo para a compreensão do fenômeno e para a reflexão sobre as possibilidades de atuação do enfermeiro na perspectiva da promoção da qualidade de vida sob a perspectiva do Modelo de Adaptação de Roy.

The overall objective of this quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was to assess the health-related quality of life of women in ambulatory palliative care as a result of advanced cervical cancer. Its specific objectives were to compile socio-demographic and clinical profiles of women in ambulatory palliative care as a result of advanced cervical cancer; to analyse the health-related quality of life of women in ambulatory palliative care as a result of advanced cervical cancer; to analyse relations between the health-related quality of life of women in ambulatory palliative care as a result of advanced cervical cancer and their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics and their symptoms; and to discuss contributions to related nursing practices directed to fostering quality of life. The study participants were 60 women with advanced cervical cancer attending an outpatient department of a hospital specialising in cancer-related palliative care in Rio de Janeiro. Two data collection instruments were applied, one for socio-demographic and clinical data and the other, the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 15 PAL (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL). Data were analysed using univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics assisted by Stata® version SE 13.0 software. The study was approved by the research ethics committee, pursuant to Ministry of Health Resolution 466 of 12 December 2012 (Approval No. 2.929.726). The results indicated that most of the women were more than 51 years of age, declared themselves to be brown or black, of the neo-Pentecostal faith, had no partner, family income of 1 to 2 minimum wages, complete or incomplete upper secondary education, KPS from 70% to 50% and advanced pelvic disease associated with metastasis. Vaginal bleeding and leucorrhoea with odour were reported, respectively, by 18.3% and 28.3% of the women. Prevalence of colostomy was 15.0%, nephrostomy 31.7%, vesicovaginal fistula 28.3% and enterovaginal fistula 11.7%. Mean scores were 52.5 for physical functioning and 58.1 for emotional functioning. The symptom with the highest mean score was pain (49.4 ­ moderate intensity). Overall quality of life scored a mean 64.7 and no association was found with socio-demographic variables. All symptoms were found to be negatively associated with physical and emotional functioning, so that higher symptom scores correlated with lower physical and emotional functioning scores. Overall quality of life was found to correlate positively with physical and emotional functioning and negatively with symptoms, so that higher symptom scores correlated with lower overall quality of life scores. The findings pointed to a situational diagnosis of health-related quality of life among women with advanced cervical cancer and related intervening factors, and contributed to understanding the phenomenon and to thinking about opportunities for nursing to act so as to foster quality of life from the perspective of the Roy Adaptation Model.

Síndrome de Fitz-Hugh-Curtis como causa de dolor agudo en hipocondrio derecho en paciente en edad fértil / Fitz-Hugh-Curtis's syndrome because of intense pain in the right hypochondrium in patient in fertile age

Introducción: el síndrome de Fitz-Hugh-Curtis consiste en una perihepatitis, secundaria a una enfermedad inflamatoria pélvica, que puede debutar como dolor agudo en hipocondrio derecho sin acompañarse de la sintomatología clásica de dolor en hipogastrio, dispareunia y leucorrea maloliente. Caso clínico: en este artículo presentamos el caso de una mujer de 18 años que debutó con un dolor agudo en hipocondrio derecho como consecuencia de un Sd. Fitz-Hugh-Curtis y a propósito del caso hacemos una revisión de la literatura existente. Discusión: esta inusual presentación de la enfermedad inflamatoria pélvica hace que todavía continúe siendo un proceso infradiagnosticado, pero que es necesario tener en cuenta al realizar el diagnóstico diferencial de un dolor agudo en hipocondrio derecho en una paciente en edad fértil, ya que en la mayoría de casos la sintomatología mejora con el tratamiento antibiótico, por lo que el pronóstico es muy favorable

Introduction: Fitz-Hugh-Curtis's syndrome consists of a secondary perihepatitis to an inflammatory pelvic disease that can begin with an intense pain in right hypochondrium without being accompanied by the classic symptomatology of pain in hypogastrium, dispareunia and malodorous leucorrea. Clinical Case: In this article, it is presented the case of an 18 years old woman who begins with an intense pain in right hypochondrium as a consequence of a Fitz-Hugh-Curtis's syndrome and regarding the case, we do a review of the current literature. Discussion: This unusual presentation of the inflammatory pelvic disease makes that it still continues being a infradiagnosed process, but which is necessary to keep in mind when we carry out the differential diagnosis of an intense pain in the right hypochondrium in a patient in fertile age, since in the majority of cases, the symptomatology improves with the antibiotic treatment, for what the prognosis is very favorable

Automatic identification of fungi in microscopic leucorrhea images.

Identifying fungi in microscopic leucorrhea images provides important information for evaluating gynecological diseases. Subjective judgment and fatigue can greatly affect recognition accuracy. This paper proposes an automatic identification system to detect fungi in leucorrhea images that incorporates a convolutional neural network, the histogram of oriented gradients algorithm, and a binary support vector machine. In experiments, the detection rate of the positive samples was as high as 99.8%. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method and its potential as a primary software component of a completely automated system.

Computerized detection of leukocytes in microscopic leukorrhea images.

PURPOSE: Detection of leukocytes is critical for the routine leukorrhea exam, which is widely used in gynecological examinations. An elevated vaginal leukocyte count in women with bacterial vaginosis is a strong predictor of vaginal or cervical infections. In the routine leukorrhea exam, the counting of leukocytes is primarily performed by manual techniques. However, the viewing and counting of leukocytes from multiple high-power viewing fields on a glass slide under a microscope leads to subjectivity, low efficiency, and low accuracy. To date, many biological cells in stool, blood, and breast cancer have been studied to realize computerized detection; however, the detection of leukocytes in microscopic leukorrhea images has not been studied. Thus, there is an increasing need for computerized detection of leukocytes. METHODS: There are two key processes in the computerized detection of leukocytes in digital image processing. One is segmentation; the other is intelligent classification. In this paper, we propose a combined ensemble to detect leukocytes in the microscopic leukorrhea image. After image segmentation and selecting likely leukocyte subimages, we obtain the leukocyte candidates. Then, for intelligent classification, we adopt two methods: feature extraction and classification by a support vector machine (SVM); applying a modified convolutional neural network (CNN) to the larger subimages. If different methods classify a candidate in the same category, the process is finished. If not, the outputs of the methods are provided to a classifier to further classify the candidate. RESULTS: After acquiring leukocyte candidates, we attempted three methods to perform classification. The first approach using features and SVM achieved 88% sensitivity, 97% specificity, and 92.5% accuracy. The second method using CNN achieved 95% sensitivity, 84% specificity, and 89.5% accuracy. Then, in the combination approach, we achieved 92% sensitivity, 95% specificity, and 93.5% accuracy. Finally, the images with marked and counted leukocytes were obtained. CONCLUSION: A novel computerized detection system was developed for automated detection of leukocytes in microscopic images. Different methods resulted in comparable overall qualities by enabling computerized detection of leukocytes. The proposed approach further improved the performance. This preliminary study proves the feasibility of computerized detection of leukocytes in clinical use.

Automatic detection of trichomonads based on an improved Kalman background reconstruction algorithm.

Automatic detection of trichomonads in leukorrhea provides important information for evaluating gynecological diseases. Traditional manual microscopy, which depends on the operator's expertise and subjective factors, has high false-positive rates (i.e., low specificity) and low efficiency. To date, there are many detection methods for biological cells based on morphological characteristics. However, the morphology of trichomonads changes, and its size is not fixed; moreover, they are similar to human leukocytes. Therefore, it is difficult to classify trichomonads based on morphological characteristics. In this study, a moving object detection method based on an improved Kalman background reconstruction algorithm is proposed to detect trichomonads automatically, considering the dynamic characteristics of trichomonads at room temperature. The experimental results show that the trichomonads can be accurately identified, and the phenomena of tailing and ghosts are eliminated. Furthermore, this algorithm easily adapts to continuous or sudden changes in light, focal length variation, and the impact of lens shift, and it has good robustness and only a moderate amount of calculation burden.

Diagnóstico y tratamiento de la leucorrea según la Medicina Tradicional / Diagnosis and treatment of leucorrhoea according to Traditional Medicine

Se realizó un estudio de intervención, prospectivo, longitudinal en el Hospital Universitario Ginecobstétrico Mariana Grajales de Santa Clara, con el objetivo de demostrar la utilidad de las técnicas tradicionales en el tratamiento de la leucorrea. La muestra quedó integrada por 64 pacientes, a las cuales se les aplicó acupuntura, auriculopuntura y tratamiento con fitoterapia; estas presentaron, como factor de riesgo, la inestabilidad en la pareja sexual. El 90,6 por ciento de las enfermas, al finalizar el estudio, se encontraban sin leucorrea, lo que demuestra que la medicina tradicional brinda una alternativa de diagnóstico y tratamiento para esta enfermedad(AU)

[Quality of life and symptoms before and after surgical treatment of rectovaginal fistula]. / Évaluation de la qualité de vie et des symptômes avant et après prise en charge chirurgicale des fistules rectovaginales.

INTRODUCTION: Rectovaginal fistula requires a complex management because it has an important psychological impact associated with impaired quality of life of patients. Thus, the aim of our study was to evaluate the improvement of the quality of life of patients after surgical management. METHODS: This is a retrospective study. We included patients operated between 2009 and 2014 for the treatment of a rectovaginal fistula, whose data were available and who agreed to answer a questionnaire. We evaluated the satisfaction of short-term and long-term patients on the answer to the basic PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 questionnaires. We then evaluated whether there was an improvement in symptoms and quality of life after surgery. RESULTS: Nine patients were included but only 4 patients completed the PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 questionnaires. Fistula was secondary to either surgical intervention (44%, n=4) or complicated perineal tear (44%, n=4) or unknown cause (11%, n=1). After surgery, we found the short term a significant decrease in stool incontinence, as there was no stool incontinence (0/5) in the postoperative period, while preoperatively 55% (5/9) (P=0.03). Postoperatively, 33% (3/9) of the patients had genital discomfort and 44% (4/9) had gas incontinence compared to 0% preoperatively (P=0.2 and P=0.6). There appears to be an improvement in pelvic static disorders after surgical management. However, we found a slight improvement in nauseous leucorrhoea in the immediate postoperative period, as the prevalence decreased from 33% (3/9) preoperatively to 22% (2/9) postoperatively (P>0.9). In the long term, we observed an improvement in the sensation of perineal heaviness and gas incontinence because only 25% (1/4) of the 75% (3/4) preoperative patients still showed slight discomfort (P=0.5). The quality of life and the emotional state of the patients were no altered postoperatively. Indeed, preoperatively, 50% (2/4) of the patients reported anxiety compared to 0% (0/4) postoperatively (P=0.4). Similarly, 75% (3/4) complained of a decrease in their quality of life (social, sports, etc.) preoperatively compared with 0% (0/4) postoperatively (P>0.9). CONCLUSION: A simple surgical management of rectovaginal fistulas would allow a significant decrease in stool incontinence and improved quality of life and their emotional state, which confirms the beneficial effect of this therapeutic strategy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

Epidemiology and outcome of cervical cancer in national institute of Morocco.

BACKGROUND: On behalf of the medical staff of the National Institute of Oncology of Rabat, we conducted a retrospective study to report epidemiology and 5-year outcomes of cervical carcinoma in Moroccan women. METHODS: We reviewed all women diagnosed with invasive cervical carcinoma in our institute between January 2006 and December 2006. Outcomes and prognoses are analyzed in patients who received at least one treatment. RESULTS: The analysis included 646 women. Median age was 50 years (23-85 years). Bleeding was the most frequent symptom (95 %). The most predominant histology was squamous cell carcinoma (94 %). The majority of patients were diagnosed at locally advanced stages (88 %). Among patients who received treatment (n = 550), the management was based on concurrent chemoradiotherapy in 69.7 % of cases. The median duration of follow-up was 60 months (range 2-78 months). Overall survival, progression free survival, and locoregional recurrence free survival were 63.2, 60.7 and 79.1 % respectively. Significant poor prognostic factors in univariate analysis included stage, tumor size, lymph node involvement, anemia and absence of response to radiotherapy. The prognostic significance of response to radiotherapy and stage were retained in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Cervical cancer in our Institute is diagnosed at locally advanced stages. Two third of patients were treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Outcome of Moroccan patients are comparable to that of western countries. Significant prognostic factors were stage, tumor size, lymph node involvement, anemia, and response to radiotherapy. The way to reduce the global burden of cervical cancer in our country continues to be the development of vaccination and screening programs.

Características clínicas, prevalência e diagnóstico de vulvovaginites em ambulatório do interior do Rio Grande do Sul / Clinical characteristics and prevalence of vulvovaginitis in a clinic in the interior of the Rio Grande do Sul

Introdução: As vulvovaginites são uma das principais queixas no atendimento rotineiro de ginecologia. O diagnóstico correto e o tratamento precoce dessas afecções são importantes além de prevenir possíveis repercussões no trato genital superior. Objetivo: Conhecer as características clínicas e a prevalência das vulvovaginites. Metodologia: Estudo transversal de natureza exploratória e descritiva, de abordagem quantitativa sobre mulheres que foram atendidas na Unidade de Atendimento de um Ambulatório de Ginecologia do Sistema Integrado de Saúde (SIS) na Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul, no período de setembro de 2014 a maio de 2015. As variáveis analisadas foram: idade, queixas clínicas, exame ginecológico e achados no exame a fresco. Os dados foram analisados no SPSS 22.0. Resultados: Do total de 200 pacientes atendidas no ambulatório, 66 (33%) foram selecionadas para realização do exame a fresco. A leucorreia fisiológica foi diagnosticada em 35 pacientes (53,0%), a vaginose bacteriana em 24 (36,5%), a candidíase em 6 (9,0%) e a tricomoníase em 1 (1,5%). Na vaginose bacteriana leucorreia com odor fétido, na candidíase leucoréia grumosa branca, prurido, ardência, vulva eritematosa e dispaurenia foram significativos para o diagnóstico (p < 0,05). Conclusões: Observou-se que a faixa etária das mulheres acometidas por vulvovaginites foi compatível com a literatura, predominando em idade reprodutiva. Constatou-se que a vaginose bacteriana foi a mais diagnosticada e que a leucorreia com odor fétido foi o sintoma estatisticamente significativo para o diagnóstico. Da mesma forma, a candidíase, com leucorreia grumosa branca, prurido, ardência, vulva eritematosa e dispareunia. (AU)

Introduction: vulvovaginitis are one of the main complaints in the routine care of gynecology. The proper diagnosis and early treatment are important to the patient and prevent possible repercussions in the upper genital tract. Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and the prevalence of vulvovaginitis. Methods: Cross-sectional study of exploratory and descriptive, quantitative approach, by applying a structured questionnaire and conducting fresh examination in women who were treated at the Unit Clinical Care of Gynecology of the Integrated Health System (IHS) at the University of Santa Cruz do Sul, from September 2014 to May 2015. The variables analyzed were: age, symptoms, gynecological examination and findings in fresh examination. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 22.0. Results: From a total of 200 patients seen at the clinic, 66 (3.3%) were selected for the performance of the fresh examination. The most common query reason was the collection of cytological (56.0%). Physiological leukorrhea was diagnosed in 35 patients (53.0%), bacterial vaginosis in 24 (36.5%), candidiasis 6 (9.0%) and trichomoniasis in 1 (1.5%). In bacterial vaginosis, a vaginal discharge with foul odor was a significant symptom for diagnosis, in candidiasis, white crumbly leukorrhea, pruritus, burning sensation, dyspareunia, vulvar erythema were also significant for diagnosis (p <0.05). Conclusions: It was observed that the age of women affected by vulvovaginites was consistent with the literature, predominantly at reproductive age. It was found that bacterial vaginosis was the most diagnosed and that foul-smelling vaginal discharge was a statistically significant (p<0.05) symptom for diagnosis. Likewise, in the case of candidiasis, crumbly white leukorrhea, pruritus, burning, vulvar erythema and dyspareunia were statistically significant for diagnosis and considered the cardinal symptoms of vulvovaginites. (AU)

Is Cryotherapy Friend or Foe for Symptomatic Cervical Ectopy?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the success rates and clinical outcomes of cervical cryotherapy applied to cervical ectopy for symptomatic relief. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 124 women who underwent cryotherapy for symptomatic treatment of cervical ectopy were included in this study. Indications for treatment were: abundant leucorrhoea (n = 114), post-coital bleeding (n = 22), recurrent cervicitis (n = 30) and pelvic pain (n = 12). Cryotherapy consisted of the use of carbon dioxide at -89°C to destroy the ectopic columnar epithelium by freezing, and it was transmitted to the ectopy through a flat cryoprobe. No routine anaesthesia or analgesia was administered. All patients were questioned about the status of their symptoms after 6 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: The highest success rate was obtained in patients with abundant leucorrhoea (n = 102; 89.5%), while the lowest success rate was achieved in subjects with pelvic pain (n = 7; 58%). After treatment, no severe complications were observed, except for hydrorrhoea for a few days. Success rates were 9 times lower in patients who had 3 or more cervicitis episodes per 6 months. CONCLUSION: In this study, the success rate of cryotherapy was highest in patients with abundant leucorrhoea and lowest in patients with pelvic pain and recurrent cervicitis. Hence, we recommend that clinicians perform the procedure in such patients without much delay.

Treatment and Follow-up of Human Papillomavirus Infected Women in a Municipality in Southern Brazil.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed toanalyze the risk behavior for cervical cancer (CC) and the human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and resolution among women who received care through the private healthcare network of a municipality in southern Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive and retrospective study was conducted with 25 women aged 20 to 59 years who received care through the private healthcare network and were treated at a specialty clinic in the period from January to December 2012 in a municipality in Northwest Parana, Southern Brazil. Data from medical records with cytological and HPV results were used. Following treatment, these women were followed-up and reassessed after 6 months. Data were statistically analyzed using the t-test and chi-squared test at a 5% significance level. RESULTS: The mean age of the studied women was 27.8±7.75 years old, and the majority were married, with paid employment and were non-smokers. The mean age at menarche was 13.0±0.50 years old, and the mean age at first intercourse was 17.5±1.78 years, with only 8.0% (2) initiating sexual activity at an age ≤15 years old. The majority had 1 to 2 children (60.0%), while 88.0% reported having had one sexual partner in their lifetime, and all the women were sexually active. A total of 68.0% used a hormonal contraceptive method. All the women had leukorrhea and pain and were infected by a single HPV type. Regarding the lesion grade, 80.0% showed high risk and 20.0% low risk. The most prevalent high-risk HPV strain was 16. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide relevant information on HPV risk factors and infection, as well as the treatment and 6-month follow-up results, in economically and socially advantaged women with no traditional risk factors, corroborating previous reports that different risk factors may be described in different populations. Thus, this study reinforces the fact that even women without the traditional risk factors should undergo HPVmonitoring and assessment to determine the persistence of infection, promoting early diagnosis of the lesions presented and appropriate treatment to thus prevent the occurrence of CC.