Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterine cervix in a 47-year-old woman

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) of the female genital tract usually occurs in the vagina during childhood. The uterine cervix as a primary site is rare, but is more frequent until the second decade of life. It usually has a good prognosis and the treatment is based on multidrug chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. RMS accounts for <5% of all adult soft tissue sarcomas. Previous reports that included all primary sites showed a poorer five-year disease specific survival for adults with RMS when compared to the pediatric population. This difference has been attributed to a higher proportion of adverse prognostic clinical and pathological factors, and to inadequate treatment given to adults with RMS. A total of 115 patients with cervical embryonal RMS have previously been described; however, only 10 cases were reported in women older than 40 years. We present a 47-year-old woman treated with radical hysterectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and review the current literature.     

Importance of combined-modality therapy for primary bone lymphoma

Primary bone lymphoma (PBL) is a rare entity and comprises about 5% of all extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) and 7% of all primary bone tumors. To date there is no consensus about the optimal treatment for PBL. We retrospectively reviewed all cases of PBL treated at Hospital S?o Paulo, Brazil, over a 10-year-period (January 1992-January 2002). Medical records of 7 patients with PBL were reviewed and information on age at diagnosis, sex, NHL clinical staging (CS), treatment and response to treatment were retrieved. Five patients (72%) received combined-modality therapy (CMT) and all of them are in complete remission (CR) with a median follow up of 19 months (ranging from 12 to 144 months). We conclude that PBL is a potentially curable malignancy and treatment should be undertaken in a multiprofessional approach, in order to provide the best support which probably has to include chemotherapy, radiotherapy and, for patients with IPI higher than 2, consolidation with stem-cell transplantation.     

The added value of SLN mapping with indocyanine green in low- and intermediate-risk endometrial cancer management: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the SLN detection rate in presumed early stage, low- and intermediate-risk endometrial cancers, the incidence of SLN metastases, and the negative predictive value of SLN mapping performed with indocyanine green (ICG).MethodsA systematic review with meta-analyses was conducted. Study inclusion criteria were A) low- and intermediate-risk endometrial cancer, B) the use of ICG per cervical injection; C) a minimum of twenty included patients per study. To assess the negative predictive value of SLN mapping, D) a subsequent lymphadenectomy was an additional inclusion criterion.ResultsFourteen studies were selected, involving 2,117 patients. The overall and bilateral SLN detection rates were 95.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]=92.4%–97.9%) and 76.5% (95% CI=68.1%–84.0%), respectively. The incidence of SLN metastases was 9.6% (95% CI=5.1%–15.2%) in patients with grade 1–2 endometrial cancer and 11.8% (95% CI=8.1%–16.1%) in patients with grade 1–3 endometrial cancer. The negative predictive value of SLN mapping was 100% (95% CI=98.8%–100%) in studies that included grade 1–2 endometrial cancer and 99.2% (95% CI=97.9%–99.9%) in studies that also included grade 3.ConclusionSLN mapping with ICG is feasible with a high detection rate and negative predictive value in low- and intermediate-risk endometrial cancers. Given the incidence of SLN metastases is approximately 10% in those patients, SLN mapping may lead to stage shifting with potential therapeutic consequences. Given the high negative predictive value with SLN mapping, routine lymphadenectomy should be omitted in low- and intermediate-risk endometrial cancer.     

Impact of vascular complications after transcatheter aortic valve implantation. VASC-OBSERVANT II sub-study

Background

Trans-femoral (TF) access is the commonest approach for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). However this vascular approach is associated with vascular complications (VC) which in turn have prognostic implications. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical impact of access site VC in patients undergoing TAVI with newer generation transcatheter prostheses enrolled in the national observational prospective multicenter study OBSERVANT II.

Methods

Vascular events were defined according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-2 criteria. The population enrolled in OBSERVANT II was divided into 3 groups: patients without VC (No-VC), patients with minor VC or percutaneous closure device failure (Minor-VC) and patients with major VC (Major-VC). The primary endpoint was 1-year major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE), a composite endpoint of all-cause mortality, stroke, myocardial infarction and coronary revascularization. A multivariate Cox regression model was used for risk estimation of MACCE between the three analyzed groups.

Results

2.504 patients were included in this analysis: 2.167 patients in No-VC group; 249 patients in the Minor-VC and 88 patients in the Major-VC. At 1-year Minor-VC group had a freedom from MACCE comparable to the No-VC group, while Major-VC patients had significantly worse outcome (Log-rank test: p = 0.003). These results were driven by higher 1-year mortality in the Major-VC (p < 0.0001). Major-VC was an independent predictor of MACCE in adjusted analysis (hazard ratio 1.89, 95% confidence interval 1.18-3.03, p = 0.008).

Conclusions

Despite a low incidence of major VC with current TF-TAVI devices, our data confirm that major VC is still associated with a significantly worse clinical outcome.