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A cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) is a scary and life-threatening complication of cesarean section (CS). Nevertheless, the incidence of CS is constantly growing. The CSP incidence is 0,15% of pregnancies after CS which represents 6,1% of all ectopic pregnancies in women with condition after CS. Therefore, it should be more present in the clinical daily routine. From mild nonspecific symptoms to hypovolemic shock, diagnosis and therapy must be performed quickly. With the progressive growth of the scar pregnancy, a uterine rupture involves the risk of severe bleeding, and an emergency hysterectomy could be necessary. Prolongation of pregnancy has been successful only in a few cases. We report 11 cases from our hospital in the past 10 years. In the discussion, treatment options of this complication with an increasing incidence, which is associated with serious morbidity and mortality, are presented based on the current literature. Treatment options include drug therapy, but also surgical or combined procedures with radiological intervention.

Purpose Obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) increase the risk for pelvic floor dysfunctions. The goal of this study was to examine the long-term outcomes after OASIS on pelvic floor functions and quality of life. Material and methods Between 2005 and 2013, 424 women had an OASIS at the Women University Hospital Ulm. Out of these 71 women completed the German pelvic floor questionnaire, which includes questions regarding prolapse symptoms as well as bladder, bowel and sexual function. In addition, 64 women were physically examined, including a speculum examination to evaluate the degree of prolapse, a cough test to evaluate urinary stress incontinence (SI) and an evaluation of both pelvic floor sphincter (modified Oxford score) and anal sphincter contraction. Results A high rate of pelvic floor disorders after OASIS was found, as 74.6% of women reported SI, 64.8% flatus incontinence and 18.3% stool incontinence, respectively. However, only few women stated a substantial negative impact on quality of life. The clinical examination showed that a positive cough test, a weak anal sphincter tone and a diagnosed prolapse correlated with the results of the self-reported questionnaire. Conclusion On one hand, OASIS has an influence on pelvic floor function going along with lots of complaints, while on the other hand, it still seems to be a taboo topic, as none of the participants spoke about the complaints after OASIS with a doctor. Therefore, the gynecologist should actively address these issues and offer therapy options for the women with persisting problems.

Purpose Multiple pregnancies are at higher risk of preterm birth due to premature labor, cervical insufficiency, or premature rupture of membranes. However, both children do not necessarily have to be born and exposed to the morbidity of prematurity depending on the age of gestation. One option is a delayed-interval delivery with reduction of morbidity and mortality for the second twin, considering maternal morbidity. Methods Retrospective study of delayed-interval deliveries in multiple pregnancies with evaluation of short-and long-term outcome from 2003 to 2020 at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital of the University Hospital . Results In 17 cases, the delivery of the second twin could be prolonged, on average for 36 days. Pregnancies with delivery of the first twin before 22 weeks of gestation had a longer prolongation than pregnancies with delivery of the first twin after 22 weeks (53 vs. 22 days). In cases where a cerclage was placed, on average a longer prolongation interval (45 vs. 19 days) was observed. The short- and long-term follow-up of the second twin is comparable to the usual complication rate of premature birth. Conclusion Multiple pregnancies endangered by premature birth can be successfully prolonged for the second twin without serious maternal morbidity. If the first twin is born before 22 weeks of gestation and a cerclage is performed afterwards, a longer prolongation interval appears.

In breast cancer, large tumor size, positive nodal stage and a triple-negative tumor subtype are associated with reduced survival, but the interactions between these prognostic factors are not well understood.Here we re-evaluated the impact of tumor size, nodal stage and tumor subtype on disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS) and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) in a retrospective analysis using data from the adjuvant SUCCESS A trial. Subgroup analyses were conducted to assess whether the effect of tumor size and nodal stage on survival depended on tumor subtype.Increasing tumor size, higher nodal stage and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) were associated with unfavorable prognosis (all p 0.001). There was no significant interaction between tumor subtype and tumor size (p 0.5 for all four survival endpoints), but we found significant interactions between tumor subtype and nodal stage (p 0.05 for all four survival endpoints), with no differences in survival among tumor subtypes for patients with pN0 tumors (all p 0.05) and pronounced differences in survival among tumor subtypes for patients with positive nodal stage (all p 0.001).This analysis confirms tumor size, nodal stage and tumor subtype as independent prognostic factors in high-risk early breast cancer. Nodal-positive patients with TNBC had a considerably worse outcome compared to nodal-positive patients with another tumor subtype. This underlines the importance for early detection particularly for patients with TNBC.EudraCT 2005-000490-21; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02181101.

In the literature the rate of stress incontinence is reported between 29-75%. Compared to the established tension free vaginal tapes, the question arises, whether stabilization of the urethra can also be achieved by minimally invasive single incision slings. The aim of this retrospective analysis is to evaluate the cure rate after insertion of MicroGYNious sling. The study was carried out on 115 patients, who received a MicroGYNious sling. It was used both as a single operation for stress urinary incontinence and as a combined procedure. The degree of incontinence preoperatively and continence rate postoperatively with follow-ups (6 weeks, 6 months, one year, two years and three years) were recorded. Due to a high number of lost to follow-up after one year, only the data up to one year postoperative were included in the analysis. Preoperatively, grade I incontinence was found in 6.1%, grade II 35.7%, grade III 58.3% of the operated women. The continence rate was 96.7% postoperatively, 90 % after 6 weeks, 87.2 % after 6 months, 86.7% after one year. In terms of continence rates, the MicroGYNious sling shows similar results compared to the established procedures. Therefore, this sling provides a good treatment option for the stress urinary incontinence. These good results must be confirmed in prospective randomized trials.

Die Belastungsharninkontinenz ist eine haufige Erkrankung von Frauen in jedem Alter, mit einer temporaren Zunahme nach Entbindungen und einer stetigen mit dem Alter, besonders in der Postmenopause. Diese Form der Harninkontinenz ist sowohl konservativ als auch operativ gut therapierbar. Zu den konservativen Optionen zahlt in erster Linie die physiotherapeutische Beckenbodentherapie, unterstutzt durch lokale Ostrogenisierung und Vitamin-D-Aufsattigung. Die Therapie mit Duloxetin ist die einzige medikamentose Therapie mit Beeinflussung des Urethrasphinkters. Vaginal appliziert konnen Kunststofftampons und Pessare mechanisch die Kontinenz unterstutzen, auch temporar postpartal. Die konservativen Masnahmen sollten auch begleitend zu operativen Therapien fortgesetzt werden. Bei Versagen der konservativen Behandlungen zeigen bei den Operationen besonders die suburethralen Bander eine hohe Erfolgsrate. Retropubische Bander haben den grosten Vorteil bei der hypotonen Urethra, transobturatorische bei der Mischharninkontinenz und intraobturatorische bei multimorbiden Patientinnen. Periurethrale „bulking agents“ sind eine gute Erganzung besonders bei Rezidiven und starrer Urethra. Die Kolposuspension bleibt den jungen Frauen vorbehalten, die zusatzlich zur Belastungsharninkontinenz eine Urethrozystozele mit Lateraldefekt und entsprechenden Symptomen aufweisen. Als Ultima Ratio gilt der artifizielle Urethrasphinkter.

Mutations in genes encoding DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair components, especially homologous recombination (HR) proteins, were found to predispose to breast and ovarian cancer. Beyond high penetrance risk gene mutations underlying monogenic defects, low risk gene mutations generate polygenic defects, enlarging the fraction of individuals with a predisposing phenotype. DSB repair dysfunction opens new options for targeted therapies; poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have been approved for BRCA-mutated and platinum-responsive ovarian cancers. In this work, we performed functional analyses in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) using a case-control design. We examined 38 women with familial history of breast and/or ovarian cancer, 40 women with primary ovarian cancer and 34 healthy controls. Using a GFP-based test we analyzed error-prone DSB repair mechanisms which are known to compensate for HR defects and to generate chromosomal instabilities. While non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) did not discriminate between cases and controls, we found increases of single-strand annealing (SSA) in women with familial risk vs. controls (P=0.016) and patients with ovarian cancer vs. controls (P=0.002). Consistent with compromised HR we also detected increased sensitivities to carboplatin in PBLs from high-risk individuals (P

In high-risk early breast cancer, adjuvant taxane-Gemcitabine combinations result in a recurrence-free survival similar to single-agent taxanes. However, haematologic toxicities and need for dose reductions are more frequent in combinations. Which option ultimately provides a better quality of life (QoL) is unknown. We compared the QoL curves before, during, and up to one year after three cycles of Fluorouracil–epirubicin–cyclophosphamide followed by three cycles of Docetaxel–Gemcitabine or Docetaxel. Overall, 3691 women with recent R0-resection of a primary epithelial breast cancer participated in the nationwide SUCCESS A clinical trial. The centres sent QoL questionnaires of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer before and up to 15 months after randomisation to Docetaxel–Gemcitabine versus Docetaxel. Multilevel analysis by chemotherapy arm estimated the QoL time curves, questionnaire return, and dropout. The combination caused one-point higher global QoL (95% confidence ±1; p = 0.05) and 1.1 lower odds of adherence to the outcome (95% confidence 1.0–1.1; p = 0.23) than the monotherapy. In both groups, a 10-point decrease during therapy preceded a 16-point increase after chemotherapy (p

Objectives Inguinal lymphadenectomy in vulvar malignancies is associated with significant morbidity, especially in patients over 70years old. Under certain conditions, surgical guidelines recommend biopsy and evaluation of the sentinel node in early vulvar cancer. The purpose of our study is to evaluate ultrasonography as a predictor of inguinal lymph node involvement. Methods A retrospective study was performed with 60 patients who had vulvar malignancies (92% of which were squamous cell carcinomas) and who were treated at our hospital between 2002 and 2012. The patients ranged in age from 35 to 89years, with a median age of 76years. In total, 118 groin scans were retrospectively evaluated for sonographic evidence of lymph node involvement (i.e., absence of fatty hilum, irregular shape, cortical region diameter and vascularization pattern). The results were then compared with histopathologically confirmed lymph node status. Results Histopathologically confirmed lymph node status was available for 107 of the inguinal nodes examined by ultrasound, and lymph node metastases were found in 38 (35.5%) cases. The presence or absence of inguinal lymph node metastases was correctly identified by sonography in 92 (86.0%) of the scanned areas. Sensitivity was 76.3%, specificity was 91.3%, and positive and negative predictive values were 82.9% and 87.5%, respectively. Conclusions Ultrasonography of the inguinal lymph nodes showed a relatively high sensitivity and specificity for predicting inguinal tumor metastases. However, our results indicate that surgical lymph node staging is still needed to precisely determine inguinal lymph node status in vulvar cancer, especially because a missed lymph node-metastasis is often fatal.

Introduction: Obese breast cancer patients have worse prognosis than normal weight patients, but the level at which obesity is prognostically unfavorable is unclear. Methods: This retrospective analysis was performed using data from the SUCCESS A trial, in which 3754 patients with high-risk early breast cancer were randomized to anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapy with or without gemcitabine. Patients were classified as underweight/normal weight (body mass index (BMI)

Most presently known breast cancer susceptibility genes have been linked to DSB repair. To identify novel markers that may serve as indicators for breast cancer risk, we performed DSB repair analyses using a case-control design. Thus, we examined 35 women with defined familial history of breast and/or ovarian cancer (first case group), 175 patients with breast cancer (second case group), and 245 healthy women without previous cancer or family history of breast cancer (control group). We analyzed DSB repair in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) by a GFP-based test system using 3 pathway-specific substrates. We found increases of microhomology-mediated nonhomologous end joining (mmNHEJ) and nonconservative single-strand annealing (SSA) in women with familial risk vs. controls (P=0.0001-0.0022) and patients with breast cancer vs. controls (P=0.0004-0.0042). Young age (