Takuya Yokoe

Transgastric drainage for subdiaphragmatic abscess secondary to perforation of the sigmoid colon after cytoreductive surgery for advanced ovarian cancer

Drainage of subdiaphragmatic abscesses is difficult due to its anatomical location and it can result in adverse events, including organ damage and the spread of infection. In recent years, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) guided drainage for upper abdominal abscesses has become available. We report a case of successful infection control using this procedure for a subdiaphragmatic cyst secondary to perforation of the sigmoid colon after cytoreductive surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. A Japanese woman in her 60s underwent laparotomy for ovarian cancer, and then developed sigmoid colon perforation 6 days after surgery. The emergency reoperation was performed, and a cyst suspected to be an antibiotic-resistant fungal abscess appeared under the left diaphragm in the postoperative period. We adopted an EUS-guided route for diagnostic and therapeutic drainage method, which enabled shrinkage of the cyst and did not concur further adverse events. This procedure was effective as a minimally invasive drainage route for subdiaphragmatic cysts.

Treatment for SMARCA4-deficient carcinoma of uterine cervix

SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated cervical carcinoma is an extremely rare and aggressive malignancy, and effective treatment options are lacking. We experienced a rare case involving a patient with SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated cervical carcinoma who was successfully managed in the long term. A woman in her 40s presented with a chief complaint of abnormal vaginal bleeding. A cervical biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma; thus, radical hysterectomy was performed with R0 tumour resection. Histopathological examination of the resected tumour showed rhabdoid features under (H&E) staining and negativity for SMARCA4 under immunohistochemical staining. Given the poor prognosis associated with SMARCA4-deficient carcinoma, adjuvant radiotherapy was added. Follow-up for more than a year revealed no evidence of recurrence. For undifferentiated cervical carcinoma with rhabdoid features on H&E staining, SMARCA4 immunostaining may be considered for risk classification and recurrence prevention. R0 resection and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy may contribute to a good prognosis for patients with SMARCA4-deficient carcinoma.

Monogram and Heat Map on Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Evaluate the Recommendation for Myomectomy in Patients with Infertility: A Pilot Study

Uterine myomas can cause infertility. Studies are attempting to determine the indications for myomectomy. However, the multiplicity and localization of myomas complicate this issue. We aimed to develop a visualization tool to aid patients with infertility in their decision-making for myomectomy. We included 191 women with uterine myoma attending an outpatient infertility clinic, of whom 124 patients underwent myomectomy. Of these, 65 (52.4%) patients became pregnant within 17.6 months after surgery, and 54 (83.1%) of them had a live birth. A logistic regression model predicting the pregnancy rate (area under the curve, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.89; validation value, 74.6%) was generated using the leave-one-out cross-validation method. This model incorporated five factors: age, maximum level of infertility intervention following myomectomy, presence of submucosal myoma, maximum diameter of the myoma, and type of myomas (multiple or single). We successfully visualized the degree of involvement of each factor in the pregnancy rate by developing a nomogram based on this model. We expanded the data from the preoperative magnetic resonance images and applied machine learning using a convolutional neural network. The classification accuracy was 71.4% for sensitivity and 77.7% for specificity. Heatmap images, generated using gradient-weighted class activation mapping to show the classification results of this model, could distinguish between myomas that required enucleation and those that did not. Although a larger sample size is needed to further validate our findings, this innovative pilot study demonstrates the potential of machine learning to refine assessment criteria and improve patient decision-making.

R0 resection of vaginal stump recurrence of gynecologic malignancy by bi‐directional endoscopic approach: A case series of four patients

Abstract Vaginal stump recurrence post‐hysterectomy for gynecologic malignancies occurs in 2%–3% of cases. Local excision has been recognized as the primary treatment of localized recurrence, in which precise surgical margin is critical. However, R0 resection is not always easy, given the deep and narrow operation field, as well as severe postoperative fibrosis or adhesion of the vaginal stump at times. Here, we report four cases of vaginal stump recurrence of gynecologic malignancies resected by bi‐directional (laparoscopic and pneumovaginoscopic) endoscopy to overcome these difficulties. The primary tumors were uterine cancer in two cases and uterine cervical and ovarian cancer in one case each. The mean operating time was 199 (162–235) minutes, blood loss was minimal, and no perioperative complications were observed. Postoperative follow‐up (7.0–19.4 months) revealed no recurrence. This combined procedure could be a therapeutic option for localized vaginal stump recurrence.

Pneumovaginoscopy-assisted radical hysterectomy for early-stage cervical cancer: a novel bidirectional approach for tumor spillage prevention and R0 resection

This study evaluated the feasibility and outcomes of pneumovaginoscopy-assisted radical hysterectomy (PVRH) for cervical cancer up to stage IIA using a bidirectional fascia-oriented and nerve-sparing surgical approach. This retrospective observational cohort study examined the operative outcomes and prognoses of patients who underwent PVRH (n=59) for up to stage IIA cervical cancer. The basic procedure was Kyoto B2 (Viper Type II nerve-sparing) radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy through simultaneous vaginal and abdominal (open or laparoscopic) approaches. In all cases, pneumovaginoscopy (PV) was used to create a vaginal cuff and dissect the paracolpium and paracervical endopelvic fascia to minimize nerve damage. Thirty-eight (64.4%) patients had stage IB1 cancer. Seven (11.9%) had vaginal invasion (stage IIA1, n=4; IIA2, n=3). The abdominal approach was open in 38 cases and laparoscopic in 21. Adjuvant therapy was administered to 24 patients (41%); one patient received concurrent chemoradiotherapy for gastric-type adenocarcinoma. There were three (6.1%) intraoperative complications (CO PVRH is a new fascia-oriented and nerve-sparing surgery for early-stage cervical cancer. Further, it has favorable operative outcomes and good prognoses, similar to those of adjacent pelvic surgery such as trans-anal total mesorectal excision and radical prostatectomy.

Acute abdomen caused by internodular bleeding from a multiple myoma pseudocapsule in a postmenopausal woman

A woman in her 50s presented with lower abdominal pain. She had a diagnosis of multiple uterine myomas 3 years earlier, followed by menopause. CT showed a pelvic mass of 19.5×9.4×10.2 cm in size, containing a haemorrhagic component. It was assumed that the tumour was the previously diagnosed myoma, and that it had increased to 150% of the size noted 3 years ago. An emergent hysterectomy was performed, and the pathological diagnosis was a uterine leiomyoma, with no components suggestive of sarcoma or degeneration. We witnessed a rare case of acute abdomen caused by internodular bleeding of multiple myomas. We assumed that the source of bleeding was the vessels of the myoma pseudocapsule. These cases may be more likely to occur in patients with multiple myomas presenting around the commencement of menopause. For symptomatic relief, emergent hysterectomy is considered to be the best treatment.