No abstract

Purpose Transient postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is common after pelvic floor surgery. We aimed to determine the association between peri-operative variables and POUR and to determine the number of voids required for post-void residuals (PVRs) to normalize postoperatively. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 992 patients undergoing pelvic floor surgery at a tertiary referral centre from January 2015 to October 2017. Variables assessed included: age, BMI, ASA score, anaesthesia type, type of surgery, length of postoperative stay, surgeon, bladder protocol used, and number of PVRs required to “pass” the protocol. Results Significant risk factors for POUR included: placement of MUS during POP surgery, anterior repair and hysterectomy with concomitant sacrospinous vault suspension. A total of 25.1% were discharged requiring catheterization. Patients receiving a concomitant mid-urethral sling (MUS) were 2.2 (95% CI1.6–2.9) and 2.3 (95% CI 1.8–3.1) times more likely to have elevated PVR after their second TOV and third TOV (p < 0.0001), respectively, compared with those without concomitant MUS. Permitting a third TOV allowed an additional 10% of women to pass the voiding protocol before discharge. The median number of voids to pass protocol was 2. An ASA > 2 and placement of MUS were associated with increasing number of voids needed to pass protocol. Conclusions While many women passed protocol by the second void, using the 3rd void as a cut point to determine success would result in fewer women requiring catheterization after discharge. Prior to pelvic floor surgery, women should be counselled regarding POUR probability to allow for management of postoperative expectations.

How does breast cancer treatment affect ovarian function? Women are born with a finite number of oocytes, also known as ovarian reserve. This pool of oocytes declines over time until menopause or ovarian failure. As ovarian reserve declines, so does fertility. 9

Adoptive immunotherapy shows promise for the treatment of cancer; however, partial or mixed responses remain common outcomes due to the heterogeneity of tumours. We studied three murine mammary tumour lines that express an ovalbumin-tagged version of HER-2/neu and reproducibly undergo complete regression (CR), partial regression (PR), or progressive disease (PD) after adoptive transfer of ovalbumin-specific CD8(+) (OT-I) and CD4(+) (OT-II) T cells. The three tumour lines were implanted in immunocompetent C57Bl/6 host mice, and established tumours were treated by adoptive transfer of naive OT-I and OT-II T cells. Tumours of the CR and PR classes triggered almost indistinguishable T cell responses in terms of activation, proliferation, trafficking to the tumour site, infiltration of tumour stroma, and intratumoural T cell proliferation; however, tumours of the PR class showed reduced infiltration of tumour epithelium by donor T cells. PD responses were associated with early impairment of T cell activation and proliferation in draining lymph node, followed by negligible infiltration of tumour tissue by donor T cells. Histopathological determinants of outcome were investigated through an unsupervised analysis of 64 untreated tumours representing the three response classes. Tumours of the CR class had proportionately more stroma, which had a looser, more collagen-rich histological appearance. Thus, the amount and composition of tumour stroma distinguished successfully (CR) from unsuccessful (PR or PD) outcomes after adoptive T cell transfer, a finding that might facilitate the design of immunotherapy trials for human breast cancer.