Jeffrey M. Fowler

Incisional bowel herniations after operative laparoscopy: A series of nineteen cases and review of the literature☆

OBJECTIVESnThe objectives of this report were (1) to identify all cases of incisional bowel herniations noted after operative laparoscopy in 11 participating institutions and (2) to report the clinical details of such patients.nnnSTUDY DESIGNnA retrospective case review was performed.nnnRESULTSnNineteen cases of incisional bowel herniation were identified. The average age of the patients was 50.5 years. Initial laparoscopic procedures varied and included laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (six patients), laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy (five patients), oophorectomy (two patients), adhesiolysis (two patients), myomectomy (two patients), lymphadenectomy alone (one patient), and ovarian cystectomy (one patient). The average time to reoperation was 8.5 days.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIncisional bowel herniation is a serious complication of operative laparoscopy. Herniations occur through ports > or = mm in size at both umbilical and extraumbilical sites. New techniques are needed to avoid this serious complication.

Erythropoietin increases hemoglobin during radiation therapy for cervical cancer

PURPOSEnAnemia during radiation therapy independently predicts poor outcome in patients with cervical cancer. Despite a randomized trial demonstrating red cell transfusions improve local control and survival, many patients are not transfused due to toxicity concerns. This study evaluates the efficacy of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) in reversing anemia in patients undergoing radiation therapy.nnnMETHODS AND MATERIALSnTwenty patients with criteria of anemia (Hgb < 12.5 g/dL) and surgically staged cervical cancer FIGO stages IB (n = 7), IIA (n = 1), IIB (n = 9), and IIIB (n = 3), ranging in ages from 23-75 years (median 43), were included in this Phase I/II study. Fifteen were treated with r-HuEPO (200 U/kg/day) and ferrous sulfate 5-10 days prior to initiation of external beam radiation therapy, continuing until Hgb was < or = 14 g/dL or completion of radiation therapy. Five patients were treated with ferrous sulfate alone. An additional 61 historical controls meeting eligibility criteria were analyzed. All received external beam radiation therapy and two intracavitary cesium applications. Cisplatinum chemotherapy (20 mg/m2/week) was given as a radiosensitizer in 14 r-HuEPO patients, 4 concurrent controls, and 17 historical controls.nnnRESULTSnA marked reticulocytosis was seen in the r-HuEPO group, but not the study controls. In the r-HuEPO group, the mean +/- SD serum Hgb rose + 30% over the course of radiation therapy from a baseline of 10.3 +/- 1.04 g/dL to 13.2 +/- 1.7 g/dL. Average increase in Hgb was 0.5 g/dL per week. Average Hgb during RT was 13.4 g/dL. In study and historical controls, mean initial Hgb levels were 10.7 +/- 1.04 g/dL and 11.1 +/- 1.3g/dL, respectively, remaining unchanged over the course of radiation therapy. Average Hgb levels during radiation therapy were 11.1 g/dL in study controls and 11.4 g/dL in historical controls, significantly lower than r-HuEPO patients (p = 0.0001). Erythropoietin was well tolerated. There were no significant differences in white blood counts (p = 0.6) or platelet counts (p = 0.4) between r-HuEPO patients and both control groups. No patients had blood pressure changes during r-HuEPO therapy. The only possible side effect was deep venous thrombosis, occurring in two patients who were withdrawn from r-HuEPO therapy. Two additional patients developed deep venous thrombosis 9 and 10 days after radiation therapy and r-HuEPO were completed.nnnCONCLUSIONnErythropoietin appears to be both safe and effective at raising Hgb levels in anemic cervical cancer patients receiving radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Blood flow characteristics of ovarian tumors: Implications for ovarian cancer screening

OBJECTIVESnOur purpose was to investigate the blood flow characteristics of benign and malignant ovarian tumors. Questions posed by our research were as follows: (1) Can malignant ovarian tumors be predicted by color flow Doppler imaging? (2) What are the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of such prediction? (3) Which color flow Doppler parameter is superior in its accuracy of prediction?nnnSTUDY DESIGNnOne hundred twenty-three consecutive patients seen for suspected pelvic masses were evaluated by transvaginal ultrasonography and color flow Doppler imaging. A morphologic assessment was initially performed, followed by color flow Doppler analysis. A comparison of findings between the benign and malignant tumors was made by analyzing different thresholds of the intratumoral pulsatility and resistance index values by means of receiver-operator characteristic curves. By calculation of the area index under each receiver-operator characteristic curve the efficiency of the pulsatility and resistance index values in predicting malignancy was determined.nnnRESULTSnFifty-six benign and 23 malignant tumors were pathologically confirmed. Patients with malignant tumors were more likely to be postmenopausal and were older than patients with benign tumors. Malignant tumors were more likely to be larger and to have either a complex or solid pattern. Absent color flow was more common in benign tumors, and increased color flow was found equally among benign and malignant tumors. There was no difference in systolic, diastolic, or mean velocities between benign and malignant tumors. The calculated pulsatility and resistance index values were lower in patients with malignant tumors compared with those with benign tumors. No significant difference exists in performance of either the pulsatility or resistance index in predicting malignancy. The best thresholds for predicting malignancy were obtained with a pulsatility index of 1.0 and resistance index of 0.6.nnnCONCLUSIONSnTransvaginal ultrasonography is accurate in distinguishing benign from malignant ovarian tumors. Color flow Doppler findings are not specific enough to be used independent of gray-scale ultrasonography.

Radical vulvectomy with postoperative irradiation for vulvar cancer: Therapeutic implications of a central block

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVEnTo report the long-term results of vulvectomy, node dissection, and postoperative nodal irradiation using a midline vulvar block in patients with node positive vulvar cancer.nnnMETHODS AND MATERIALSnFrom 1971 through 1992, 27 patients with carcinoma of the vulva and histologically involved inguinal lymph nodes were treated postoperatively with radiation therapy after radical vulvectomy and bilateral lymphadenectomy (n = 25), radical vulvectomy and unilateral lymphadenectomy (n = 1), or hemivulvectomy and bilateral lymphadenectomy (n = 1). Federation Internationale de Gynecologic et dObstetrique stages were III (n = 14), IVA (n = 8), and IVB (n = 5) squamous cell carcinoma. Inguinal lymph nodes were involved with tumor in all patients (average number positive = 4, range 1-15). Postoperative irradiation was directed at the bilateral groin and pelvic nodes (n = 19), unilateral groin and pelvic nodes (n = 6), or unilateral groin only (n = 1). These 26 patients had the midline blocked. In addition, one patient received irradiation to the entire pelvis and perineum. Doses ranged from 10.8 to 50.7 Gy (median 45.5) with all patients except 1 receiving > or = 42.0 Gy.nnnRESULTSnActuarial 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival estimates were 40% and 35%, respectively. Recurrences developed in 63% (17/27) of the patients at a median of 9 months from surgery (range 3 months to 6 years) and 15 of these have died; two patients with recurrences are surviving at 24 and 96 months after further surgery and radiation therapy. Central recurrences (under the midline block) were present in 13 of these 17 patients (76%), either as central only (n = 8), central and regional (n = 4), or central and distant (n = 1). Additionally, three patients developed regional recurrences and one patient developed a concurrent regional and distant relapse. One patient developed a squamous cell cancer of the anus under the midline block 54 months after the initial vulvar cancer and an additional patient developed transitional cell carcinoma of the ureter (outside the radiation field) 12 months after diagnosis. Factors associated with a decreased relapse-free survival included increasing Federation Internationale de Gynecologic et dObstetrique stage (p = 0.01) and invasion of the tumor into the subcutaneous (SC) fat or deep soft tissue (p = 0.05). Chronic lower extremity edema developed in four patients, but there have been no other complications.nnnCONCLUSIONSnRadical vulvectomy has often been considered sufficient central treatment for vulvar carcinoma, with postoperative irradiation directed only to the nodes. Although designed to protect the radiosensitive vulva, use of a midline block in this series resulted in a 48% (13/27) central recurrence rate, much higher than the 8.5% rate previously reported with this technique. Routine use of the midline block should be abandoned and, instead, postoperative irradiation volumes should be tailored to the individual patient.

The effect of prolonged cycles of chemotherapy on quality of life in gynaecologic cancer patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if the prescription of prolonged cycles of chemotherapy to patients with a variety of gynaecologic cancers has an adverse effect on quality of life (QOL).

Gray scale and color flow Doppler characterization of uterine tumors.

The aim of this study was to investigate gray scale and color flow characteristics of a group of patients with a suspected uterine pathologic condition. One hundred and twenty‐two consecutive patients at the Womens Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, undergoing transvaginal sonography and color flow Doppler imaging for suspected uterine corpus abnormality made up the study group. After gray scale morphologic assessment, color flow Doppler imaging of the tumor and uterus was performed, including the ipsilateral uterine artery. Malignant tumors were confirmed pathologically in all 35 patients who had them. In comparing patients with benign versus malignant tumors, gray scale morphologic assessment confirmed that malignant uterine tumors (31 endometrial cancers and four sarcomas) were more likely to have a thickened echoic endometrium (P = < 0.0001), be enlarged (P = 0.004), to be retroverted (P = 0.02), and to lack a subendometrial halo (P < 0.0001). Patients with four benign and 13 malignant tumors demonstrated increased flow when assessed by CFD. The calculated sensitivity of increased color flow in predicting malignancy was 39%, with a specificity of 92%, a positive predictive value of 77%, and a negative predictive value of 71%. No difference existed between the benign and malignant groups for the systolic, diastolic, and mean velocities and for the calculated pulsatility index and resistive index in both sampled uterine and intramyometrial or tumor vessels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Prediction of malignancy using transvaginal color flow Doppler in patients with gynecologic tumors

Eighty-five patients referred to the Womens Cancer Center, University of Minnesota had transvaginal color flow Doppler performed to determine if pelvic malignancy could be predicted by blood flow assessment. Their mean age was 49 years (range 21–86 years). Thirty-five patients were subsequently found to have malignant tumors of the cervix, uterus or ovary. The presence of increased intratumoral blood flow as depicted by color flow Doppler had a sensitivity of 83%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 89% for malignancy. The mean intratumoral Pulsatility Index (PI) of the patients with malignant tumors was 0.81 (SD 0.24; range 0.3–1.2), which was significantly lower than for the benign group (P = 0.001). A PI of ≤ 1.0 had a sensitivity of 96.3%, specificity of 94.3%, PPV of 89.7% and NPV of 98% for predicting malignancy. Transvaginal color flow Doppler shows promise as a method of predicting malignancy in patients with gynecologic pathology.

Leiomyosarcoma of the uterus in a 15-year-old with acute abdominal pain

Sarcomas account for only 0.9% of all uterine cancers and represent 0.05% of all gynecological neoplasms (1,2). Endometrial stromal sarcoma, mixed mesodermal tumor (MMT), and leiomyosarcoma (LMS) are the three major histologic types. Leiomyosarcoma, originating in the myometrial cells, is one of the most common, accounting for approximately 25% of all uterine sarcomas (1,3). Uterine sarcomas usually occur after menopause, ranging from 24 to 95 years of age in some series, in which 90% were age 45 years or older. The most common presenting symptom is metrorrhagia, followed by abdominal pain and presence of an abdominal and pelvic mass. Uterine LMS tends to occur in younger women than does MMT (2,3). Although some series have shown a higher number of LMS (32%) than MMT (9%) in premenopausal patients, uterine LMS is very rare during childhood and adolescence (3,4). A review of the literature from the past 20 years revealed only one case of a leiomyosarcoma of the uterine cervix in a 15-year-old girl, which presented as an endocervical polyp and genital bleeding (4). An LMS presenting as a pelvic mass and acute abdominal pain in a female adolescent has not been previously reported. The objective of this case report was to increase awareness of health care providers of the existence and severity of this pathology within adolescence, and to present the different diagnostic tools and treatment approaches available for these young patients.