Objective To compare a new surgical approach, laparoscopically assisted radical vaginal hysterectomy (LARVH) with open radical hysterectomy in women with cervical cancer. Can selected women benefit from the minimally invasive approach without compromising safety (recurrence rate) and morbidity (complications)?Design Retrospective case control study.Setting A tertiary referral unit for gynaecological malignancies.Population Thirty women undergoing LARVH were included and compared with 30 women undergoing open radical surgery. The control group was matched for age, body mass index and disease stage.Methods Retrospective collection of data from patient files and follow up.Main outcome measures Recurrence rate, complication rate, hospital stay, nodal counts, blood loss, operating time.Results Recurrence rates were equal (6.7%). There was one death, in the LARVH group. Conclusions The first 30 LARVH procedures performed in this unit are comparable in terms of safety (recurrence rate and complication rate) and economic factors (shorter hospital stay mitigating longer operating time). Further development of this technique is warranted.

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Between 1975 and 1987, 115 patients underwent inferior turbinectomy and 87% were available for review. The nature and extent of their pre- and postoperative symptoms were determined, and rhinoscopy was undertaken to establish the completeness of turbinectomy and the presence of intranasal complications. Of these patients, 88% reported improvements in nasal obstruction and 50 to 78% of the patients who had experienced other troublesome nasal symptoms reported improvements in these. Primary hemorrhage occurred in two patients and during the early postoperative months three patients experienced crusting, three had spotty bleeding, and one had discomfort caused by increased airway patency. On examination nine patients had mild asymptomatic crusting, seven had incompletely resected turbinates, and 12 had intranasal adhesions. None had atrophic rhinitis.

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INTRODUCTION: Few studies have examined patients' understanding of prenatal ultrasounds (US). Our primary aim was to describe women's understanding of abnormalities detectable by midtrimester fetal anatomy scan. Our secondary aim was to determine if differences in the results varied with maternal demographics to identify subgroups who may benefit from additional counseling. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey of English-speaking patients presenting for a midtrimester fetal anatomy scan at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Patients were recruited prior to their US and if consent was obtained they completed a pre-US survey. The survey obtained demographic information and assessed knowledge of US detectable anatomic abnormalities by seven questions. Comparison between groups was performed by Wilcoxon rank sum test, Spearman rank correlation, and bivariate linear regression as appropriate. RESULTS: 123 participants were recruited, 117 consented, and 116 completed surveys. A median of 43% [Interquartile Range 14-71%] of questions were answered correctly. Number of correct responses was found to correlate inversely with income <$50,000/year (P<0.0001), education less than Bachelor’s Degree (P<0.0001), age (P=0.001), and African American race (P<0.0001) in bivariate analyses. CONCLUSION: Patients with lower income, less education, younger age, and African American race have less knowledge about fetal anomalies detected via a midtrimester ultrasound. These data suggest that these women may benefit from additional counseling regarding the function of ultrasound as a medical test with the purpose of detecting fetal anomalies early in pregnancy.