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The Cochrane Database of Systematic... Mar 2016Women with suspected early-stage ovarian cancer need surgical staging which involves taking samples from areas within the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal lymph... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Women with suspected early-stage ovarian cancer need surgical staging which involves taking samples from areas within the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal lymph nodes in order to inform further treatment. One potential strategy is to surgically stage all women with suspicious ovarian masses, without any histological information during surgery. This avoids incomplete staging, but puts more women at risk of potential surgical over-treatment.A second strategy is to perform a two-stage procedure to remove the pelvic mass and subject it to paraffin sectioning, which involves formal tissue fixing with formalin and paraffin embedding, prior to ultrathin sectioning and multiple site sampling of the tumour. Surgeons may then base further surgical staging on this histology, reducing the rate of over-treatment, but conferring additional surgical and anaesthetic morbidity.A third strategy is to perform a rapid histological analysis on the ovarian mass during surgery, known as 'frozen section'. Tissues are snap frozen to allow fine tissue sections to be cut and basic histochemical staining to be performed. Surgeons can perform or avoid the full surgical staging procedure depending on the results. However, this is a relatively crude test compared to paraffin sections, which take many hours to perform. With frozen section there is therefore a risk of misdiagnosing malignancy and understaging women subsequently found to have a presumed early-stage malignancy (false negative), or overstaging women without a malignancy (false positive). Therefore it is important to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of adding frozen section to the clinical decision-making process.
OBJECTIVES
To assess the diagnostic test accuracy of frozen section (index test) to diagnose histopathological ovarian cancer in women with suspicious pelvic masses as verified by paraffin section (reference standard).
SEARCH METHODS
We searched MEDLINE (January 1946 to January 2015), EMBASE (January 1980 to January 2015) and relevant Cochrane registers.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Studies that used frozen section for intraoperative diagnosis of ovarian masses suspicious of malignancy, provided there was sufficient data to construct 2 x 2 tables. We excluded articles without an available English translation.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Authors independently assessed the methodological quality of included studies using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (QUADAS-2) domains: patient selection, index test, reference standard, flow and timing. Data extraction converted 3 x 3 tables of per patient results presented in articles into 2 x 2 tables, for two index test thresholds.
MAIN RESULTS
All studies were retrospective, and the majority reported consecutive sampling of cases. Sensitivity and specificity results were available from 38 studies involving 11,181 participants (3200 with invasive cancer, 1055 with borderline tumours and 6926 with benign tumours, determined by paraffin section as the reference standard). The median prevalence of malignancy was 29% (interquartile range (IQR) 23% to 36%, range 11% to 63%). We assessed test performance using two thresholds for the frozen section test. Firstly, we used a test threshold for frozen sections, defining positive test results as invasive cancer and negative test results as borderline and benign tumours. The average sensitivity was 90.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) 87.6% to 92.0%; with most studies typically reporting range of 71% to 100%), and average specificity was 99.5% (95% CI 99.2% to 99.7%; range 96% to 100%).Similarly, we analysed sensitivity and specificity using a second threshold for frozen section, where both invasive cancer and borderline tumours were considered test positive and benign cases were classified as negative. Average sensitivity was 96.5% (95% CI 95.5% to 97.3%; typical range 83% to 100%), and average specificity was 89.5% (95% CI 86.6% to 91.9%; typical range 58% to 99%).Results were available from the same 38 studies, including the subset of 3953 participants with a frozen section result of either borderline or invasive cancer, based on final diagnosis of malignancy. Studies with small numbers of disease-negative cases (borderline cases) had more variation in estimates of specificity. Average sensitivity was 94.0% (95% CI 92.0% to 95.5%; range 73% to 100%), and average specificity was 95.8% (95% CI 92.4% to 97.8%; typical range 81% to 100%).Our additional analyses showed that, if the frozen section showed a benign or invasive cancer, the final diagnosis would remain the same in, on average, 94% and 99% of cases, respectively.In cases where the frozen section diagnosis was a borderline tumour, on average 21% of the final diagnoses would turn out to be invasive cancer.In three studies, the same pathologist interpreted the index and reference standard tests, potentially causing bias. No studies reported blinding pathologists to index test results when reporting paraffin sections.In heterogeneity analyses, there were no statistically significant differences between studies with pathologists of different levels of expertise.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
In a hypothetical population of 1000 patients (290 with cancer and 80 with a borderline tumour), if a frozen section positive test result for invasive cancer alone was used to diagnose cancer, on average 261 women would have a correct diagnosis of a cancer, and 706 women would be correctly diagnosed without a cancer. However, 4 women would be incorrectly diagnosed with a cancer (false positive), and 29 with a cancer would be missed (false negative).If a frozen section result of either an invasive cancer or a borderline tumour was used as a positive test to diagnose cancer, on average 280 women would be correctly diagnosed with a cancer and 635 would be correctly diagnosed without. However, 75 women would be incorrectly diagnosed with a cancer and 10 women with a cancer would be missed.The largest discordance is within the reporting of frozen section borderline tumours. Investigation into factors leading to discordance within centres and standardisation of criteria for reporting borderline tumours may help improve accuracy. Some centres may choose to perform surgical staging in women with frozen section diagnosis of a borderline ovarian tumour to reduce the number of false positives. In their interpretation of this review, readers should evaluate results from studies most typical of their population of patients.
Topics: Diagnostic Errors; False Negative Reactions; False Positive Reactions; Female; Frozen Sections; Humans; Intraoperative Period; Neoplasm Staging; Ovarian Neoplasms; Paraffin Embedding; Pelvic Neoplasms; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity
PubMed: 26930463
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010360.pub2 -
International Journal of Surgery... Apr 2016In the last decades, minimally invasive transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy has become the standard of care for surgical resection of the adrenal gland tumors.... (Review)
Review
Minimally invasive approach for adrenal lesions: Systematic review of laparoscopic versus retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy and assessment of risk factors for complications.
In the last decades, minimally invasive transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy has become the standard of care for surgical resection of the adrenal gland tumors. Recently, however, adrenalectomy by a mininvasive retroperitoneal approach has reached increasingly popularity as alternative technique. Short hospitalization, lower postoperative pain and decrease of complications and a better cosmetic resolution are the main advantages of these innovative techniques. In order to determine the better surgical management of adrenal neoplasms, the Authors analyzed and compared the feasibility and the postoperative complications of minimally invasive adrenalectomy approaches. A systematic research of the English literature, including major meta-analysis articles, clinical randomized trials, retrospective studies and systematic reviews was performed, comparing laparoscopic transperitoneal adrenalectomy versus retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy. Many studies support that posterior retroperitoneal adrenalectomy is superior or at least comparable to laparoscopic transperitoneal adrenalectomy in operation time, pain score, blood loss, hospitalization, complications rates and return to normal activity. However, laparoscopic transperitoneal adrenalectomy is up to now a safe and standardized procedure with a shorter learning curve and a similar low morbidity rate, even for tumors larger than 6 cm. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to objectively evaluate these techniques, excluding selection bias and bias related to differences in surgeons' experiences with this approaches.
Topics: Adrenal Gland Neoplasms; Adrenalectomy; Female; Humans; Intraoperative Complications; Laparoscopy; Length of Stay; Male; Operative Time; Pain, Postoperative; Postoperative Complications; Retroperitoneal Space; Risk Factors
PubMed: 26708860
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2015.12.042 -
The Journal of Urology Sep 2015Transarterial embolization is increasingly used in the management of renal angiomyolipoma. The level of evidence establishing the safety and efficacy of transarterial... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Transarterial embolization is increasingly used in the management of renal angiomyolipoma. The level of evidence establishing the safety and efficacy of transarterial embolization has not increased in parallel.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Using the MOOSE (Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) criteria a systematic review of transarterial embolization of angiomyolipoma was performed to establish procedural safety and efficacy. A MEDLINE® PubMed® search revealed 1,739 publications, of which 31 studies met eligibility criteria.
RESULTS
A total of 524 cases of transarterial embolization of angiomyolipoma were included in analysis. Self-limiting post-embolization syndrome developed following 35.9% of embolizations and further morbidity developed in 6.9%. No procedural mortality was reported. At a mean followup of 39 months the mean size reduction was 3.4 cm (-38.3% of angiomyolipoma diameter). Unplanned repeat embolization or surgery was required in 20.9% of cases during this period. The most frequent indications for repeat procedures included angiomyolipoma revascularization in 30.0% of cases, unchanged or increasing size in 22.6%, refractory or recurring symptoms in 16.7% and representation with acute retroperitoneal hemorrhage in 14.3%. Treatment included a combination of 2 or more embolic agents in 46.8% of cases, ethanol monotherapy in 41.7%, coil monotherapy in 6.2% and foam or microparticle monotherapy in 5.2%.
CONCLUSIONS
Transarterial embolization of angiomyolipoma demonstrates low rates of mortality and serious complications. Re-treatment rates and size reduction at a mean followup of 39 months are presented. Longitudinal data assessing long-term size reduction and re-treatment rates are lacking. Recommendations guiding the indications for transarterial embolization and clear followup require further longitudinal data.
Topics: Angiomyolipoma; Arteries; Embolization, Therapeutic; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms
PubMed: 25916674
DOI: 10.1016/j.juro.2015.04.081