No abstract

The results suggest that cold knife conization and loop excision are comparable and equally effective diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for CIN.

This study investigated whether the type of surgical procedure used to treat breast cancer (mastectomy versus breastconserving lumpectomy) had any effect on the quality of life and social status of women. The prospective analysis included 382 women newly diagnosed with nonmetastatic breast cancer who had undergone a surgical intervention for breast carcinoma at our institution: 198 patients had undergone mastectomy with axillary lymphadenectomy and 184 patients had undergone breast-conserving lumpectomy with local axillary lymphadenectomy. The post-mastectomy women reported significantly more financial problems, a lowered social status and more physical symptoms compared with the breast-conserving post-lumpectomy patients. The patients that underwent lumpectomy were more satisfied with their body image and their sexual life. Since the adverse financial effects of wage loss can significantly decrease a patient's quality of life, this study indicates that postmastectomy patients in particular need to be protected more effectively against a decline in their social status.

The aim of the study was to compare the frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and in women without cervical pathology. In a study group of 423 patients with histologically proven CIN and in 108 controls with normal cervical smear, cytological material for direct immunofluorescence analysis was obtained. Among 423 patients, 24 (5.7%) had CIN 1, 108 (25.5%) CIN 2 and 291 (68.8%) CIN 3. Among all patients with CIN, 27 (6.4%) were C. trachomatis positive and 396 (93.6%) C. trachomatis negative. In the control group 6 (5.6%) were C. trachomatis positive and 102 (94.4%) C. trachomatis negative. The difference between C. trachomatis infection incidence in patients with CIN and in women without cervical pathology was not significant (chi2=0.29; P>0.05). In this study, no difference in C. trachomatis infection incidence was detected between patients with CIN and women with normal cervical smears. The impact of C. trachomatis infection seems not to interfere with the development or even the promotion of CIN.

During operative treatment for ovarian tumours assistance is frequently required to make decisions regarding malignancy status and the extent of the ensuing procedure. Intra-operative frozen section analysis may be useful, provided there is adequate acquaintance with the correlation between using frozen sections and permanent histopathological sections for diagnosis at the institution where the operation is being undertaken. This retrospective study aimed to determine this correlation. Findings from 131 intra-operative frozen sections were compared with the subsequent diagnosis from permanent histopathological sections for women with benign, borderline and malignant ovarian tumours at the Maribor Teaching Hospital (now the University Clinical Centre Maribor) between 1 January 1993 and 31 December 2001. Frozen-section findings corresponded to histopathological findings in 84.7% of cases, with 15.3% false-negative and no false-positive results. For benign, borderline and malignant ovarian tumours, sensitivity was 100.0%, 76.1% and 89.0%, respectively, and specificity was 90.6%, 90.6% and 100.0%, respectively. The majority of errors occurred in diagnosing mucinous borderline tumours. Precise pre-operative diagnosis is extremely important in the treatment of ovarian tumours.