EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY AND REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Objective: To analyze the expression patterns of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and phosphorylated (p)-AKT in the tissues of non-pathologic endometrium, endometrial hyperplasia, and early and advanced stage endometrioid endometrial adenocancer using indirect immunohistochemistry, and also to investigate the effect of ERK1/2 and p-ART expression patterns on prognosis in endometrioid adenocancer. Study design: Immunolocalization of ERK1/2 and p-Ala was examined in six different types of endometrial tissues: proliferative endometrium (PE; n = 10, 11.2%), secretuar endometrium (SE; n = 10, 11.2%), simple hyperplasia (SH; n = 15,16.9%), complex hyperplasia (CH; n=3, 3.4%) and atypical complex hyperplasia (ACH; n = 10, 11.2%), which were obtained from endometrial biopsies, curettage materials, and hysterectomy specimens and classified as the benign group; and both early stage endometrioid (n = 21, 23.6%) and advanced stage endometrioid adenocancer (AC; n=20, 22.5%), which were obtained from complete surgical staging materials and classified as the malignant group. All specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and processed using routine paraffin protocols. Immunostaining intensities were evaluated as negative or weak (assigned as low expression) and moderate or strong (assigned as high expression). Results: In the malignant group, 23 of 41 patients (56.1%) had high ERK1/2 and p-AKT expression, whereas only three of 48 patients in the benign group (6.3%) had high ERK1/2 and p-ART expression (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0001, respectively), p-ART expression was significantly higher in women with positive lymph nodes (OR 9.0; 95% CI: 1.2-100.0; P = 0.03). Higher expression of p-Ala was significantly associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In contrast, ERK1/2 expression was not associated with PFS or OS. Conclusions ERK1/2 and p-ART can be useful in the differential diagnosis of benign vs. malignant endometrial lesions, as well as early vs. advanced stage endometrioid endometrial adenocancer. Additionally, higher p-ART expression could be used as a marker of poor prognosis in the management of patients with endometrioid endometrial adenocancer. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Effect of intraabdominal administration of Allium sativum (garlic) oil on postoperative peritoneal adhesion

Objective(s) Peritoneal adhesion is a serious problem that develops after most abdominopelvic surgeries. Allium sativum (garlic) has been used for centuries as both a nutrient and a traditional medicine. The anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, fibrinolytic, and wound-healing properties of garlic are well-recognized. We evaluated the effect of garlic on formation of postoperative adhesions in rats. Study design Thirty Wistar-Albino female rats weighing 200-250 g were randomly divided into three groups (10 rats/group). Group 1 rats received 5 ml/kg garlic oil intraperitoneally and no surgery was performed. The ceca of Group 2 rats (controls) were scraped, to trigger adhesion formation, and no treatment was given. In Group 3 rats, 5 ml/kg garlic oil was added to the peritoneal cavity immediately after the cecum was scraped. All animals were sacrificed 10 d after surgery and adhesions graded in terms of severity and histopathologic characteristics. Results All animals tolerated the operations well. No adhesions were evident upon laparotomy of Group 1 animals. In Group 2 three rats had an adhesion grade 2 and seven rats had an adhesion of grade 3, whereas in Group 3 no adhesions were found in four rats, five rats had an adhesion grade of 1. Only one rat had a grade 2 adhesion. Macroscopic adhesions and mean adhesion scores of Group 3 were significantly lower than Group 2 (p < 0.001). Histopathologic evaluation of the specimens also revealed a statistically significant differences in inflammation, fibrosis, and neovascularization scores between Group 2 and 3 (p = 0.001, p = 0.001, and p = 0.011, respectively). Inflammation, fibrosis and vascularization scores in Group 3 were found significantly lower than Group 2. Conclusion The anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, fibrinolytic, antithrombotic, and wound-healing effects of garlic likely prevent formation of peritoneal adhesions in a rat model, and garlic may be effective and cheap when used to prevent such adhesions in humans. © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

Isolated interrupted aortic arch, a rare cause of hypertension in adults

Interrupted aortic arch (IAA) is a rare and usually lethal congenital malformation. Patients with complete IAA very rarely do reach adult age without previous surgical intervention. The present report describes a 26-year-old asymptomatic isolated IAA case with hypertension that was incidentally diagnosed. IAA just distal to the left subclavian artery and a markedly developed collateral circulation was demonstrated by cardiac catheterization and thoracic 3D magnetic resonance angiography. This case report was also interesting that only mild arterial hypertension of the upper extremities was incidentally found in the patient. © 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Corrigendum to "Letter to the Editor: Isolated interrupted aortic arch, a rare cause of hypertension in adults" [Int J Cardiol 127 (2008) e52-e53] (DOI:10.1016/j.ijcard.2007.04.008)

[No abstract available

Management of cervical cancer during pregnancy

Cervical cancer (CC) is the most common gynaecological cancer during pregnancy. The rarity of the disease and lack of randomised control studies have prevented the establishment of treatment guidelines. The management of CC mainly follows the guidelines for the non-pregnant disease state, expert opinions and limited case reports. Although the management of CC diagnosed during pregnancy appears to be a significant dilemma for the patients and specialists, the prognosis of CC is not influenced by pregnancy. The treatment decision should be made collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team consisting of an obstetrician, gynaecologist, oncologist and paediatrician. The concerns of the patient should be taken into account. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Maternal and perinatal outcomes in women with placenta praevia and accreta in teaching hospitals in Western Turkey

WOS: 000340297200002PubMed: 24734898In this retrospective study, we investigated patient characteristics and fetal and maternal outcomes of placenta praevia and accreta at two tertiary hospitals in Istanbul. A total of 364 pregnancies complicated by placenta praevia with (n = 46) and without (n = 318) placenta accreta managed between January 2005 and December 2010 were reviewed. Among 364 women, 46 (12.6%) had placenta accreta and 318 (87.4%) had placenta praevia without accreta. The rates of curettage history and caesarean delivery were significantly higher in the group with placenta accreta. Furthermore, we found that emergency surgery had negative effects on maternal outcomes in the placenta praevia group. In addition, when accreta was suspected at ultrasound examination in women who had placenta praevia, the mean estimated blood loss during surgery was reduced significantly. If placenta praevia is detected, a careful ultrasound examination should be performed and the patient should undergo elective surgery at a tertiary referral hospital

A novel preoperative scoring system for predicting endometrial cancer in patients with complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia and accuracy of frozen section pathological examination in this context: A multicenter study

Objective: To estimate the accuracy of frozen pathological analysis in patients preoperatively diagnosed with endometrial atypical complex hyperplasia (ACH) and to develop a model predicting the probability of the presence of endometrial carcinoma in ACH. Methods: Patients (n = 128) who underwent total hysterectomies because of diagnoses of ACH were evaluated at four tertiary centers. Results: Diagnoses made using frozen sections and permanent sections were in good agreement (k = 0.61, p 12 mm). The AUC of this score was 0.793, and the score afforded 80.9% sensitivity, 70.3% specificity, a 75.3% positive predictive value, and a 76.4% negative predictive value, when a score of 5 was used as a cutoff. Conclusions: Patients with ACH should be evaluated by gynecological oncologists and intraoperative frozen section analysis should be performed by pathologists specializing in the evaluation of gynecological malignancies, because ACH is closely associated with endometrial cancer (EC). Our novel preoperative scoring system may aid in the detection of patients at increased risk of EC and thus guide general gynecologists. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel

Immunolocalization of ERK1/2 and p-AKT in normal endometrium, endometrial hyperplasia, and early and advanced stage endometrioid endometrial adenocancer and their prognostic significance in malignant group

Objective: To analyze the expression patterns of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and phosphorylated (p)-AKT in the tissues of non-pathologic endometrium, endometrial hyperplasia, and early and advanced stage endometrioid endometrial adenocancer using indirect immunohistochemistry, and also to investigate the effect of ERK1/2 and p-AKT expression patterns on prognosis in endometrioid adenocancer. Study design: Immunolocalization of ERK1/2 and p-AKT was examined in six different types of endometrial tissues: proliferative endometrium (PE; n = 10, 11.2%), secretuar endometrium (SE; n = 10, 11.2%), simple hyperplasia (SH; n = 15, 16.9%), complex hyperplasia (CH; n = 3, 3.4%) and atypical complex hyperplasia (ACH; n = 10, 11.2%), which were obtained from endometrial biopsies, curettage materials, and hysterectomy specimens and classified as the benign group; and both early stage endometrioid (n = 21, 23.6%) and advanced stage endometrioid adenocancer (AC; n = 20, 22.5%), which were obtained from complete surgical staging materials and classified as the malignant group. All specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and processed using routine paraffin protocols. Immunostaining intensities were evaluated as negative or weak (assigned as low expression) and moderate or strong (assigned as high expression). Results: In the malignant group, 23 of 41 patients (56.1%) had high ERK1/2 and p-AKT expression, whereas only three of 48 patients in the benign group (6.3%) had high ERK1/2 and p-AKT expression (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). p-AKT expression was significantly higher in women with positive lymph nodes (OR 9.0; 95% CI: 1.2-100.0; P = 0.03). Higher expression of p-AKT was significantly associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In contrast, ERK1/2 expression was not associated with PFS or OS.Conclusions ERK1/2 and p-AKT can be useful in the differential diagnosis of benign vs. malignant endometrial lesions, as well as early vs. advanced stage endometrioid endometrial adenocancer. Additionally, higher p-AKT expression could be used as a marker of poor prognosis in the management of patients with endometrioid endometrial adenocancer. © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved