1.Ultrasound‑guided tru‑cut biopsy of pelvic tumors: First reported case series in the Philippines
Ferdinand Luis Guzman Suarez ; Kareen Nora Reforma
Philippine Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2023;47(5):233-238
This paper documents the first reported cases of patients in the country who underwent transvaginal
ultrasound‑guided Tru‑cut biopsy of pelvic tumors in a tertiary level health institution in 2019. Different
indications for Tru‑cut biopsy were demonstrated highlighting its clinical utility in the diagnosis and
management of malignant pelvic tumors. All patients warranted histologic diagnosis for further
planning of the most appropriate management. Adequate tissue samples were obtained from all
three patients with no procedure‑related complications.
2.A comparative study of subjective and objective techniques using two‑dimensional ultrasound in the preoperative assessment of cervical and myometrial invasion in patients with endometrial cancer
Doreen Baco Abria-Ybañ ; ez ; Lara Marie David-Bustamante ; Kareen Nora Reforma
Philippine Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2023;47(5):249-259
Context:
Endometrial cancer is the third most common malignancy of the female genital tract in
the Philippines, following cervical and ovarian cancer. Ultrasound as the first line in imaging has a
major role in preoperative treatment and planning.
Aims:
To compare the diagnostic accuracy of subjective versus objective ultrasound
measurement techniques in detecting cervical stromal invasion (CSI) and deep myometrial
invasion (MI).
Materials and Methods:
Fifty‑seven patients were enrolled in this cross‑sectional study. Deep
MI and CSI were evaluated both subjectively and objectively by measuring tumor‑free distance (TFD),
distance from the outer cervical os to lowest edge of the tumor border (Dist‑OCO), and distance
from the internal cervical os to caudal tumor border (Dist‑ICO). Histopathological result used as the
gold standard.
Results:
Subjective assessment for deep (MI) had 79.3% sensitivity, 82.1% specificity, 82.1%
positive predictive value (PPV), 82.1% negative predictive value (NPV), and 80.7%. Subjective
assessment for CSI had a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and overall accuracy of 80%, 90.4%,
44.4%, 97.9%, and 89.5%. Objective measurement (TFD ≤0.8 cm) to detect deep MI had 86.2%
sensitivity, 57.1% specificity, 67.4% PPV, 80% NPV, and 71.9% overall accuracy. Adjusting TFD
cutoff to 0.65 increased to 71.4% specificity, making it comparable with subjective assessment.
Dist‑OCO (≤2.1 cm) yielded 100% sensitivity, 86.3% specificity, 30% PPV, 100% NPV, and 87%
overall accuracy. Dist‑ICO was first used in this study, hence no cutoff yet. By using receiver operating
characteristics, cutoff was 0.45 cm, which yielded a 60% sensitivity and 92% specificity (area under
the curve 0.731, P = 0.09).
Conclusions
Subjective assessment of CSI and deep MI performs better than objective
measurement techniques. TFD and Dist‑OCO as the objective measurements showed clinically
comparable accuracy to subjective assessment by an expert. Dist‑ICO needs to be validated to a
larger population to determine its clinical value in predicting CSI.
Endometrial Neoplasms