OBJECTIVE: Laparoscopic vaginal vault closure with conventional straight instruments is the final barrier to single-port access total laparoscopic hysterectomy (SPA-TLH). The aim of this study is to find out the safer, easier, simpler, faster, and even cheaper way to overcome it. METHODS: Vaginal vault suturing techniques of 152 consecutive single-port access total laparoscopic hysterectomy cases performed by the author in Gangnam CHA Hospital, CHA University from October 1, 2003 to June 30, 2012, were retrospectively analysed with medical records and DVDs. RESULTS: Of 152 patients who were attempted SPA-TLH, 119 patients (78%) were finished their operations without conversion to multi-port laparoscopy or laparotomy. Of women with successful SPA-TLH, 8 cases (7%) were closed their vaginal vaults vaginally (median, 20 minutes; range, 15-44 minutes), and 111 cases (93%) laparoscopically (median, 44 minutes; range, 13-56 minutes). Laparoscopic vault closure techniques were continuous suture (4 cases, 3%; median, 36 minutes; range, 30-45 minutes), interrupted sutures using knot-pusher (7 cases, 6%; median, 52 minutes; range, 48-56 minutes) Endo Stitch suture (2 cases, 2%; median, 32 minutes; range, 13-50 minutes), continuous vault closure using percutaneous sling sutures (PCSS) (92 cases, 77%; median, 40 minutes; range, 19-56 minutes), and continuous vault closure without PCSS (6 cases, 5%; median, 23 minutes; range, 16-31 minutes). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic vault closure using PCSS in SPA-TLH only with conventional straight instruments is the best way to overcome the barrier and the short-cut to shorten the learning curve to date.
Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Laparoscopy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Suture Techniques* ; Sutures

PURPOSE: Status epilepticus (SE) is a neurological emergency disease because it can cause severe neurological complications. In order to avoid these complications, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment is required in SE. Febrile SE is the most common form of SE in children. We investigated the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with febrile SE is the first seizure of life. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with SE as the first presentation of fever related seizures who visited our hospital from July 1996 to January 2013. Clinicodemographic characteristics, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electro-encephalogram (EEG) findings, and anti-epileptic treatment were compared between two groups divided according to prognosis; fair vs. poor prognosis. RESULTS: Seventy-eight children were included in this study. The median age of the subjects was 20.0 months (interquartile range [IQR] 12.0–42.8). Fifty-one subjects had a fair prognosis, while twenty-seven subjects had a poor prognosis. Statistically significant differences was observed in the duration of seizure (P=0.043), the number of antiepileptic drugs (P<0.001) and the presence of abnormal EEG findings (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Children with febrile SE as the first seizure of life are likely to reveal a poor prognosis in those whose seizure last longer or are controlled only through high step anti-epileptic drugs. Thus, in order to ensuring a better prognosis for such patients, appropriate treatment is needed to stop the seizure.
Anticonvulsants ; Brain ; Child* ; Early Diagnosis ; Electroencephalography ; Emergencies ; Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic ; Fever* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures* ; Status Epilepticus*

Torsion of uterine adnexa is an important cause of acute abdominal pain in females. The main organ which can cause torsion is the ovaries, but torsions of the fallopian tube, subserosal myoma, paratubal cyst, and even the uterine body have been reported. The incidence of isolated fallopian tubal torsion is very rare. Even more rarely, it can coil around nearby organs such as the utero-ovarian ligament, showing similar clinical manifestations with those of adnexal torsion. We experienced an extremely rare case of acute abdomen induced by ovarian congestion triggered by the fallopian tube accompanying a paratubal cyst coiling around the utero-ovarian ligament. The right paratubal cyst was misinterpreted as being part of a cystic component of the left ovary on preoperative sonographic examination, and the coiling of the right fallopian tube accompanying the paratubal cyst was misdiagnosed as torsion of the right ovary. We report this rare case with a brief literature review.
Abdomen, Acute* ; Abdominal Pain ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP)* ; Fallopian Tubes* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Ligaments* ; Myoma ; Ovary ; Parovarian Cyst* ; Ultrasonography