Vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap for vaginal reconstruction after radical pelvic surgery for Stage II vaginal carcinoma

Primary carcinomas of the vagina are uncommon, occurring only 2-3% of all gynecological malignancies. In women with early stage of disease, primary surgery, consisting of radical vaginectomy (plus hysterectomy in patients with tumors involving the upper vagina) and systematic dissection of lymphatic drainage of tumor, is a valid option. In these patients, a rectus abdominis myocutaneous (RAM) flap may be favorably used for vaginal reconstruction during radical pelvic surgery. Here we describe a case of Stage II vaginal carcinoma treated with radical pelvic surgery and vertical-RAM (V-RAM) flap reconstruction.     

Carcinoma of the vagina after hysterectomy for severe dysplasia or carcinoma in situ of the cervix

Fourteen patients treated for intraepithelial or invasive cancer of the vagina subsequent to hysterectomy for severe dysplasia or carcinoma in situ of the cervix are reported. The importance of obtaining an adequate pretreatment tissue diagnosis is emphasized. Surgical excision by partial or complete vaginectomy for in situ or early invasive disease is recommended. In each patient the vaginal apex was involved. In four patients invasive cancer was found in the operative specimen but not in the preoperative biopsy. Invasive cancer was diagnosed in patients who had had a hysterectomy 2 or more years prior to diagnosis of the vaginal cancer. Modification in the technique of partial and complete vaginectomy was suggested, which would assure a more thorough removal of the vaginal mucosa and perivaginal tissues.     

The management of the patient with abnormal vaginal cytology following hysterectomy

Thirty-two patients presenting with abnormal vaginal cytology following hysterectomy were studied. Seven (21.8%) had had hysterectomy for benign conditions whilst 25 (78.1%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or invasive cervical carcinoma. Twenty-five patients had partial or total vaginectomy (15 as the primary procedure), and one required laser treatment following vaginectomy. Of 11 (34.3%) patients treated primarily by laser, five subsequently required vaginectomy because of persistent or recurrent cytological abnormality. All four patients treated with topical 5-fluorouracil or dinitrochlorobenzene subsequently required surgery. Nine of the 32 patients (28.1%) proved to have invasive carcinoma of the vagina on histological examination of the vaginectomy specimen. At the time of writing all patients in the study are well with no evidence of disease.     

The management of the patient with abnormal vaginal cytology following hysterectomy

Summary. Thirty-two patients presenting with abnormal vaginal cytology following hysterectomy were studied. Seven (21·8%) had had hysterectomy for benign conditions whilst 25 (78·1%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or invasive cervical carcinoma. Twenty-five patients had partial or total vaginectomy (15 as the primary procedure), and one required laser treatment following vaginectomy. Of 11 (34·3%) patients treated primarily by laser, five subsequently required vaginectomy because of persistent or recurrent cytological abnormality. All four patients treated with topical 5-fluorouracil or dinitrochlorobenzene subsequently required surgery. Nine of the 32 patients (28·1%) proved to have invasive carcinoma of the vagina on histological examination of the vaginectomy specimen. At the time of writing all patients in the study are well with no evidence of disease.     

Loop electrosurgical excision procedure for partial upper vaginectomy

OBJECTIVES: Partial upper vaginectomy consists of removal of the vaginal apex and is indicated for the diagnosis and treatment of vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia and recurrent cancer. We present a novel surgical approach to partial upper vaginectomy by use of the loop electrosurgical excision procedure. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 15 consecutive patients with abnormal vaginal cytologic results were treated by the loop electrosurgical excision procedure for partial upper vaginectomy. After submucosal injection of local anesthetic, the loop electrode was used to resect the upper third of the vagina. An iodoform vaginal pack was placed for 24 hours. All patients with high-grade vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia received intravaginal 5-fluorouracil cream postoperatively. RESULTS: The mean blood loss was 0 mL, and the mean surgical time was 30 minutes. A complication developed in 1 patient (7%). One case of invasive carcinoma was diagnosed. No recurrences have developed in any patients with vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia after hysterectomy. CONCLUSIONS: The loop electrosurgical excision procedure for partial upper vaginectomy can be performed quickly, with minimal blood loss, minimal complications, and minimal recurrence of neoplasia, and it provides a histologic specimen for evaluation.     

Fertility-sparing radical abdominal trachelectomy for clear cell adenocarcinoma of the upper vagina: a case report

BACKGROUND: Clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA) of the vagina is traditionally treated with radical surgical resection with tailored postoperative radiation when indicated. Due to a bimodal distribution, women of reproductive age are frequently affected and could benefit from radical trachelectomy to preserve fertility. CASE: A 22 year old female was diagnosed with clinical stage I vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma in the left fornix abutting the cervix. The patient desired future fertility; therefore, she underwent radical abdominal trachelectomy and upper vaginectomy. Twenty-eight months after initial surgery, she has no evidence of recurrence with regular menstrual cycles. CONCLUSION: For patients with CCA of the upper vagina, where removal of the cervix is necessary, a radical trachelectomy with upper vaginectomy should be considered to conserve fertility.     

Sarcoma botryoides of the female genital tract

Results of treating 14 patients with sarcoma botryoides of the female genital tract are reviewed. Nine patients were younger than four years old and five were older than 14. Primary tumors were in the vagina (eight), cervix (three), vulva (one), and cervicovaginal region (two). All but one patient underwent surgery, including wide local excision (one), vaginectomy (one), hysterectomy (one), hysterectomy and vaginectomy (two), anterior exenteration (two), and total pelvic exenteration (six). A combination of vincristine, actinomycin-D, and cyclophosphamide was the chemotherapy regimen most frequently administered. Only one of the nine patients receiving chemotherapy died from recurrence. One patient with disease too extensive for surgery received intraarterial vincristine and radiation therapy; 16 years later she developed an adenosquamous carcinoma of the uterus. Sarcoma recurred in three patients. This review of patients treated between 1956 and 1983 reflects the evolution of therapy over 30 years. Conservative surgery alone was inadequate; therefore, radical (exenterative) surgery was adopted; recently less extensive surgery has been combined with chemotherapy, producing satisfactory results.     

Neoplasia in vaginal cuff epithelial inclusion cysts after hysterectomy

Between Jan 1, 1985, and Dec 31, 1987, 26 women were treated for vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN). Twenty-two of them had undergone hysterectomy, 15 for a cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cancer. Five patients were identified whose management was complicated by the presence of the neoplastic process within vaginal cuff inclusion cysts (or sinuses). All five patients ultimately underwent upper vaginectomy as part of their treatment, and two of them were found to have an invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vagina. Women who are found to have an abnormal Papanicolaou smear or VAIN in the upper vagina following hysterectomy should be examined carefully for vaginal cuff abnormalities. Those with nodularity or distortion of the cuff are best managed with surgical excision for both treatment of VAIN and discovery of an occult invasive cancer.     

Superficially invasive carcinoma of the vagina following treatment for cervical cancer: A report of six cases

Six patients with superficially invasive squamous carcinoma of the vagina are described. All patients meet recently proposed criteria for the diagnosis of microinvasive vaginal carcinoma. The depth of invasion measured from the surface was less than 2.5 mm. There was no lymph-vascular space involvement. The invasive foci arose within a field of carcinoma in situ. Five of these six patients had previously been treated for invasive cervical cancer with pelvic radiation from 82 to 246 months before the diagnosis of vaginal carcinoma. All but one patient had the carcinoma confined to the upper one-third of the vagina. All patients were treated with a single vaginal radium application following vaginectomy. One of these six patients expired from recurrent vaginal cancer 35 months following diagnosis. During the same 17-year period, 17 other cases of Stage I epidermoid cancer of the vagina were treated which did not meet the above criteria for microinvasion. There were no statistically significant differences between these two groups with regard to age at diagnosis, history of cervical cancer, hysterectomy, or pelvic radiation or in survival. Additional experience with early vaginal carcinoma is needed before microinvasive carcinoma of the vagina should be accepted as a distinct clinical entity.     

Vulvovaginal melanoma: report of seven cases and literature review

Five cases of primary vaginal melanoma were treated at UCLA Medical Center between 1976 and 1986. Two additional cases of melanoma arising at the junction of the vulva and vagina are presented. One of seven (13%) patients is alive, with a median time to recurrence of 7 months, and median survival of 31 months. Four of five vaginal melanomas were located in the distal vagina, and all were advanced at diagnosis (greater than 3 mm depth). Mean size was 3 cm. Initial therapy was local excision in four patients and radical surgery in three. All patients had suboptimal surgical margins: two vaginal primaries had positive margins after local excision, both recurred vaginally within 5 months. Two patients had margins less than 1 mm, one died of distant metastases, the other is alive with disease 30 months after radical distal vaginectomy and hemivulvectomy with post-op pelvic radiotherapy. Three patients had melanoma in situ at the surgical margins, and each had pelvic recurrences between 6 and 26 months. Five of seven cases developed local recurrence as the initial site of treatment failure. All five vaginal cases ultimately developed distant disease, but only two patients had distant disease without local-regional recurrence. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy enabled disease stabilization in three patients. The vulvovaginal junction at the introitus is a high risk site for vaginal and vulvar melanoma. Intraoperative management requires assessment of lateral and deep spread of invasive and in situ melanoma.     

Prolapsed fallopian tube masquerading as adenocarcinoma of the vagina in a postmenopausal woman

A postmenopausal patient with vaginal prolapse of the fallopian tube presented with an erroneous diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the vaginal apex. Failure to consider fallopian tube prolapse in the differential diagnosis of vaginal adenocarcinoma led to an upper vaginectomy and subsequent complication of a ureterovaginal fistula. The differential diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the vagina in the postmenopausal patient and the management of vaginal prolapse of the fallopian tube are discussed.     

Carcinoma in situ of the vagina

A review was made of 136 cases of carcinoma in situ of the vagina seen over a 30-year period, 1953 to 1982. The patients ranged in age from 17 to 77 years, with a mean age of 55 years. One hundred sixteen patients (85%) presented with an abnormal Papanicolaou smear. Colposcopically directed biopsies were used for diagnosis in 62% of the patients. The upper one third of the vagina was the most common site of disease, with 54% of patients having unifocal lesions. A previous hysterectomy had been performed in 71% of patients, 35% of whom had undergone operation for benign disease. A concomitant, subsequent, or prior neoplasm of the lower genital tract or pelvis was noted in 109 patients. Surgical intervention in the form of either wide local excision or partial or total vaginectomy was the most frequently used method of treatment. Radiotherapy, usually in the form of a vaginal mold, was the second most commonly used method of treatment, and it was used in 27 patients. Radiotherapy and more extensive surgical treatment methods gave the best results. Four patients subsequently developed invasive carcinoma of the vagina.     

Laparoscopic nerve-sparing radical vaginectomy in patients with vaginal carcinoma: surgical technique and operative outcomes

Study ObjectivesTo describe our technique for laparoscopic nerve-sparing radical vaginectomy and to assess the feasibility and safety of the procedure via operative outcomes.DesignRetrospective study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).SettingMajor university teaching hospital in Chongqing, China.PatientsTwelve consecutive patients with early stage vaginal carcinoma.InterventionsLaparoscopic radical parametrectomy/vaginectomy with pelvic/paraaortic lymphadenectomy.Measurements and Main ResultsNerve-sparing radical vaginectomy was completed laparoscopically without conversion to laparotomy in 12 patients with early stage vaginal cancer. Mean (SD) operative time was 158.5 (36.7) minutes, and estimated blood loss was 135.2 (62.8) mL. No intraoperative complications occurred, and no patients required blood transfusion. The number of pelvic nodes obtained was 21.2 (9.8), and of para-aortic nodes was 13. All nodes were negative for malignancy. Histologic analysis confirmed the absence of any residual cancer tissue in the margins of the parametrial tissue and vagina. The median (range) time before Foley catheter removal was 9.76 (3–14) days, and bladder void function recovery to grade 0–I was observed in 11 patients (91.7%). Neither long-term bladder voiding dysfunction nor any other long-term complications were reported. The median duration of follow-up was 28 months. One patient with stage II vaginal cancer received pelvic regional radiation therapy; the other patients did not require adjuvant therapy after the operation. All patients were included in the follow-up protocol, and there was no recurrence of disease in any patients.ConclusionsLaparoscopic radical parametrectomy/vaginectomy with pelvic/para-aortic lymphadenectomy is a therapeutic option for early stage vaginal carcinoma. Nerve-sparing radical surgery in indicated patients may lead to optimal preservation of bladder function. The technique described in this preliminary study seems to be safe and feasible, and was relatively easy to perform in our study population.     

Laparoscopic management of vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma arising in pelvic endometriosis: case report and literature review

Vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from pelvic endometriosis has not been reported in the literature. We report a case of a 50-year-old woman with stage I clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina who was found to have endometriosis adjacent to the vaginal tumor. She was treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation, laparoscopically assisted radical vaginal hysterectomy, radical upper vaginectomy, and pelvic lymphadenectomy followed by combination chemotherapy.     

Sentinel node detection in a patient with recurrent endometrial cancer initially treated by hysterectomy and radiotherapy

This is the first article reporting sentinel node identification in a patient with endometrial cancer recurring in the vagina. A 79-year-old woman presented with a midvaginal recurrence of a stage IB, grade II endometroid carcinoma that had been treated 3 years earlier by a total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingoophorectomy, and pelvic lymph node sampling, followed by adjuvant brachytherapy to the vaginal vault. A staging examination under anesthetic was performed. Preoperatively, 60-MBq technetium-labeled nannocolloid was injected in the mucosa at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock just adjacent to the tumor recurrence. Three sentinel nodes were detected, respectively, in the left obturator fossa (two) and the right external iliac region, using a laparoscopic probe (Navigator) and removed for pathological assessment. As they proved to be negative, the patient underwent a total vaginectomy, parametrectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy. The tumor was completely removed, and all lymph nodes proved to be negative. The accuracy of sentinel node identification in patients with recurrent gynecological tumors needs further evaluation. This unique case shows that sentinel node detection is possible after previous radiotherapy and surgery and hopes to stimulate further research in this field.     

Laparoscopic radical parametrectomy and partial vaginectomy for recurrent endometrial cancer

BACKGROUND: Endometrial cancer recurrences in the vagina after surgery and radiation therapy are traditionally treated with pelvic exenteration. However, this operation is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and thus alternative surgical options should be explored. CASE: We present a case of laparoscopic resection of recurrent endometrial cancer at the vaginal apex in the setting of prior brachytherapy and 32P intraperitoneal therapy. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic radical parametrectomy and partial vaginectomy may be an option for patients with small central recurrences of endometrial cancer.     

Urethral placement through a bilateral myocutaneous gracilis flap neovagina

Malignant melanoma of the vagina is an uncommon genital tumor. When the lesion arises in the distal vagina, radical surgery has been the only treatment to produce long-term survivors. A total vaginectomy, vulvectomy, and bilateral groin node dissection is recommended to assure adequate margins. Sexual function is lost unless reconstruction is performed. The bilateral myocutaneous gracilis flap neovagina has been a successful plastic procedure after exenterative procedures that result in loss of bladder and/or rectum. The authors present a technique in which bladder function was preserved after creation of a gracilis flap neovagina in a patient with Stage I melanoma of the distal vagina. Placement of the distal urethra through the reconstructed gracilis flap neovagina resulted in preservation of urinary function and continence, primary closure of the vulvar defect, and satisfactory sexual function. Two and one-half years after surgery the patient has good bladder and vaginal function without significant sequel.     

Recurrence of high-grade squamous intraepithelial neoplasia in neovagina: case report and review of the literature

Recurrent carcinoma in situ in neovagina is rare, and the optimal modality of treatment is unclear. A 33-year-old multiparous woman was referred for vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia, vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, underwent skinning vulvectomy with perianal excision, total vaginectomy, vaginal hysterectomy, and vaginal reconstruction with split-thickness skin graft. Ten years after initial surgery, the recurrence as a high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia in the upper one third of neovagina was detected. For that reason, the upper one third of vaginectomy with at least 5-mm tumor-free border and vaginal reconstruction with split-thickness skin graft were performed. She has attended her regular follow-up for 3 years with no evidence of disease. All patients with vaginoplasty should undergo regular follow-up. This report is the seventh such report in English literature of patients previously treated for in situ carcinoma who later developed recurrence in the graft.     

Vaginectomy with pelvic herniorrhaphy for prolapse

OBJECTIVE: The study was undertaken to report our experience with vaginectomy and pelvic herniorrhaphy for vaginal prolapse. STUDY DESIGN: This was an observational study of patients undergoing vaginectomy (n=41) or hysterovaginectomy (n=13) for stage III/IV vaginal prolapse. Morbidity was compared with cohorts who had undergone transvaginal repair of prolapse, by using the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Morbidity did not differ significantly (estimated blood loss) between the vaginectomy and hysterovaginectomy groups. There were no recurrent hernias (6-56 months). Operative time, estimated blood loss, and day of discharge were significantly greater for the posthysterectomy prolapse group compared with the vaginectomy group. Operative time was significantly greater for the uterovaginal prolapse group versus the hysterovaginectomy group. CONCLUSIONS: Vaginectomy with or without hysterectomy with pelvic herniorrhaphy is associated with a low rate of morbidity in a high-risk patient population. Hysterovaginectomy is not associated with a clinically significant difference in morbidity over vaginectomy alone. Vaginectomy with or without hysterectomy should be offered as a surgical option to selected patients with severe genital prolapse.     

Nodal detection in malignant melanoma of the vagina using laparoscopic ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: Primary malignant melanoma of the vagina is a rare variant of melanoma. It has worse prognosis compared to nongenital melanomas or other vaginal malignant neoplasms. CASE: A 40-year-old Chinese was diagnosed vaginal melanoma. Laparoscopic ultrasonography (USG) was used to search for abnormal pelvic and abdominal lymph nodes. Two metastatic pelvic lymph nodes were detected and excised. The vaginal tumour was removed by hysterectomy and partial vaginectomy. Despite a clear surgical margin and adjuvant radiotherapy, the patient died shortly after the operation. CONCLUSION: Patient with vaginal melanoma has grave prognosis, especially when metastatic disease presents. Radical surgery appears unjustified as a routine, it is essential to exclude lymphatic and distant metastases before embark to radical surgery. This report presents the first case of laparoscopic ultrasonographic detection of metastatic pelvic lymph nodes in patient with vaginal melanoma.