Gerrit d'Ablaing

Cervical cancer in pregnancy : reporting on planned delay in therapy

Objective:To report our experience with invasive carcinoma of the cervix during pregnancy, assessing maternal morbidity due to treatment delay and reporting maternal and fetal outcome.Methods:Twenty-seven patients with invasive cervical cancer, who were pregnant at the time of diagnosis or treatment

A clinical and pathologic study of 30 cases of malignant mixed mullerian epithelial and mesenchymal ovarian tumors: A gynecologic oncology group study

Between November 1971 and June 1980, thirty patients with primary malignant mixed mullerian tumors of the ovary were entered into a Gynecologic Oncology Group registry and treatment protocol. The mean age of the patients is 60.4 years. Six were Stage II, twenty-three were Stage III, and one patient had Stage IV disease. Among the 30 cases, 15 were designated carcinosarcomas (CS) and 15 were mixed mesodermal sarcomas (MMS). Twenty-three of the thirty study patients died from 1 to 16 months following their initial surgery. Two of the seven living patients have persistent cancer at 11 and 54 months. Four patients were alive and well at 6, 11, 22, and 32 months at the close of the study. Of the 12 patients receiving vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) with (8 cases) or without (4 cases) radiation therapy (RT), there were two clinical complete responses; both died with disease at 6 and 16 months. One of the six patients receiving adriamycin had a complete response (CR). She is alive with disease at 11 months. There was no apparent difference in the survival or stage distribution among the cases with CS and MMS. Survival was somewhat better for the patients with earlier stage disease or smaller residual tumor burden.

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterine corpus and cervix

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas of the uterus and cervix are rare tumors with a very poor prognosis historically. Adjuvant multidrug chemotherapy combined with local radiation therapy and/or surgery has resulted in markedly improved survival rates. Six patients with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterus/cervix are reported, with a compilation of 28 additional patients from the literature. Nineteen of 24 patients (79%) treated with combination therapy were alive and well 4-147+ months (median 61 months) after diagnosis. The six cases from USC Medical Center and affiliated hospitals are all well 17-144 months (mean 95 months) after diagnosis. Analysis of the collected series indicates that extent of disease is an important prognostic factor. Adjuvant chemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin D, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) improves survival. Initial therapy for embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma confined to the uterus/cervix should include radical hysterectomy, pelvic lymphadenectomy, and adjuvant chemotherapy with VAC. Pelvic radiotherapy should be employed for involved surgical margins or positive nodes. Advanced disease managed initially with chemotherapy and radiotherapy may allow subsequent curative extirpative surgery.

Initial management of hydatidiform mole

From July 1, 1969 to June 30, 1985, 381 patients received primary management for hydatidiform mole at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center Womens Hospital. Three hundred fifty-eight of these women had complete records available for analysis. Of these, 277 women (77.4%) underwent suction curettage to remove the hydatidiform mole. Sharp curettage (41 patients, 11.5%), Pitocin (15, 4.2%), hysterectomy (12, 3.4%), prostaglandins (10, 2.8%), and hysterotomy (1, 0.3%) were used less frequently. Two patients (0.6%) had no therapy after spontaneous expulsion of a mole. Complications including infection, toxemia of pregnancy, anemia or hemorrhage, and postevacuation respiratory insufficiency were recorded in 242 patients (67.6%). This experience documents that hydatidiform mole is a high-risk pregnancy that requires prompt and intensive management. Suction curettage of the uterus is clearly the best means of management in most cases.

Malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary: 20-year report of LAC-USC Women's Hospital.

Thirty-six patients with malignant germ cell tumors (GCT) of the ovary were treated during the period from 1971 to 1990. Twenty-five of these patients underwent initial surgery at this institution; 11 were referred after initial surgery. Endodermal sinus tumor (EST) was the most common subtype (N = 13), followed by immature teratoma (IMT) N = 11), dysgerminoma (N = 9), and mixed germ cell tumor (N = 3). Eight of nine patients with dysgerminoma and 14 of 27 patients with non-dysgerminomatous germ cell tumors had stage I disease. Surgical staging resulted in a change of stage in 10 of 31 patients; seven were upstaged, and three were downstaged. Thirty-five of 36 patients are alive with no evidence of disease at a median follow-up of 47 months (range 12–210 months). Two of nine patients with dysgerminoma received postoperative radiotherapy; two additional patients required radiotherapy for recurrence. Twenty-five of 27 patients with non-dysgerminomatous tumors were treated with combination chemotherapy. Second-look laparotomy was done in 18 patients, four of whom had positive results. Three of the four patients with positive second-look laparotomy results remain free of disease after salvage chemotherapy; the fourth patient died of progressive grade 3 IMT. Nineteen of 27 patients undergoing fertility-preserving surgery have resumed normal menses, and four of these have delivered normal infants. The other eight patients remain on oral contraceptives. We conclude that surgical staging provided important information in this study of 36 patients with ovarian germ cell malignancies. As noted by many previous reports, combination chemotherapy (developed during the past 20 years) has dramatically improved prognosis for this group of patients. Second-look laparotomy (SLL), especially for patients with advanced disease, was able to identify patients requiring additional therapy. Most patients with this disease can retain their normal, uninvolved ovary with preservation of normal menstrual and reproductive function.

Preservation of ovarian tissue in adnexal torsion with fluorescein

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to assess the ability of fluorescein to intraoperatively detect viable fallopian and ovarian tissues involved in adnexal torsion. STUDY DESIGN This prospective study was performed at Los Angeles County+University of Southern California Womens Hospital. Participants were female patients 18 to 45 years old with adnexal torsion confirmed at exploratory celiotomy. Five milliliters of 10% fluorescein were injected intravenously, and the involved untwisted adnexa was observed under ultraviolet light. Nonfluorescent tissue was resected and histologically evaluated. RESULTS Eleven patients were entered into the study. Mean age was 25 years (range 15 to 42). Eight patients (72%) had preservation of involved ovarian tissue. No complications were associated with this procedure. Only three patients (28%) underwent oophorectomy. CONCLUSION The use of intravenous fluorescein appears to be a valuable adjunct in the management of adnexal torsion. Application of this technique in reproductive-aged patients resulted in a three-quarter reduction in oophorectomy procedures.

Secretion of prorenin by a virilizing ovarian tumor

A 53-year-old normotensive, normokalemic female presented with a 6-month history of virilization. Estradiol, LH, FSH, urinary-free cortisol, and DHEA-S levels were normal. Pelvic ultrasound and computerized tomography were also within normal limits. Her serum testosterone (551 ng/dl; nl, 20-70) and plasma prorenin (124 ng AI/ml/hr; nl, less than 50) levels were elevated. At surgery, a lipoid/steroid cell tumor of the right ovary was removed. Postoperative testosterone and prorenin levels were normal. Ovarian tumor cells, in culture, produced large amounts of prorenin. Immunohistochemistry localized prorenin and/or renin to tumor cells. Determining plasma prorenin levels may be a useful adjunct in diagnosing or following patients with nonepithelial ovarian tumors. A larger clinical study of prorenin levels in patients with such tumors is needed.

Mifepristone (RU 486) failure in an ovarian heterotopic pregnancy

A patient treated with mifepristone (RU 486), which successfully induced abortion of an intrauterine pregnancy, was discovered to have a heterotopic ovarian pregnancy resistant to this antiprogesterone. The ovarian pregnancy was removed with operative laparoscopy. This case demonstrates for the first time that an ovarian pregnancy may be resistant to treatment with RU 486 at a dose adequate to abort an intrauterine pregnancy.

The endocrinologic evaluation of a 45,X true hermaphrodite

A 13-year-old 45,X girl presented with spontaneous menses and the acute onset of progressive hirsutism. Complete endocrinologic evaluation of hirsutism was unremarkable. An exploratory laparotomy revealed a gonad containing ovarian and testicular tissue. Chromosome analysis from four different tissues confirmed the karyotype to be 45,X. She was H-Y antigen positive.

A clinical-pathology review of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia following cryotherapy failure

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) after cryotherapy can pose both diagnostic and therapeutic problems. To clarify these issues, 27 consecutive patients who underwent cone biopsy for CIN after cryotherapy over a 10-year period at Womens Hospital LAC + USC Medical Center were reviewed. Although the initial features of the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia allowed for outpatient cryotherapy, the features of these failures did not (unsatisfactory colposcopy or CIN in the endocervical curettings). Eleven percent of these patients had stromal invasion on cone biopsy that was not suspected clinically. Patients presenting with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia following cryotherapy may, in fact, have progressive disease (i.e., stromal invasion) that is inapparent clinically. Hence, surgical excision should be considered in these circumstances.