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Biomedical subjects

V C Wright

Publications and source records attributed to V C Wright.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Epidermal growth factor receptor expression and the presence of human papillomavirus in cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions.

To determine the relationship between the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the presence or type of human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL), paired colposcopically directed cervical biopsies were obtained from 88 patients referred for abnormal Papanicolaou smears. One biopsy was formalin-fixed and processed for conventional light microscopy, and the other was immediately frozen. A portion of the frozen tissue was used for Southern blot HPV DNA hybridization and a portion for immunohistochemical studies for EGFR using a monoclonal antibody. Forty-seven cases were SIL and 41 were normal. In 41 (87%) of the cases of SIL and in eight (20%) of the normal cases, HPV DNA was detected. Of the SIL cases, HPV 16 was the most frequently detected type, being present in 12 (25%), followed by 10 (21%) types 31 or 35, nine (19%) types 52 or 56, five (11%) uncharacterized types, three (6%) type 18, and two (4%) multiple types. Regardless of histology, EGFR was detected in all cases. In normal cases, EGFR expression was detected in the basal cells only and in SIL in abnormal proliferating parabasal cells such that it correlated with the grade of SIL. When stratified by grade of SIL, no differential expression of EGFR was seen in cases where HPV was detected; in contrast, in cases where no HPV was detected, no differential expression was seen between cases of different HPV type. Thus, EGFR is expressed by all proliferating squamous epithelial cells and as such correlates with the grade of SIL.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biopsy

Cyto-histological correlates in a colposcopic clinic: a 1-year prospective study.

As part of the Quality Assurance Program, all surgical pathology reports of cervical colposcopic biopsies, cone biopsies, and hysterectomy specimens of 772 consecutive patients were correlated with cytology results for a period of 1 yr. The abnormality in cytology or histology ranged from HPV effect to invasive carcinoma. Cytohistological correlation within one grade of severity was obtained in 662 (86%) cases. On formal review of the remaining 110 (14%) cases, sampling error occurred in 75 cytology smears and in 21 colposcopic biopsies. Screening and interpretation error occurred in 10 smears and four biopsies. In this study the sensitivity of cervical cytology in detecting epithelial abnormalities was 90%, with a positive predictive value of 99.7%. The false-negative rate of cytology was 11% and the false-positive rate 0.26%. The majority (90%) of false negatives were due to sampling error; the rest were due to laboratory error. The sensitivity of colposcopic biopsy was 97% with a positive predictive value of 99.4%. The false-negative rate of biopsy was 2.7% and the false-positive rate 0.5%. Endocervical cells were seen in 48% (370) of smears and absent in 52% (402). However, in both instances the detection rate of squamous abnormality was 90%. Also 43% (33) of smears that showed endocervical cells failed to contain the abnormal cells. Endocervical curettage or cone biopsy in 16 of these 33 cases clearly showed a small CIN-III lesion high in the endocervical canal. We believe that the value of endocervical cells as an indicator of adequacy is questionable.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent

Laser surgery for vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia: principles and results.

Twenty-nine patients with grade 3 vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia were treated with the carbon dioxide laser while they were under anesthesia. Superficial lesions in nonhairy areas were vaporized to less than 1 mm, but lesions extending onto hairy areas were vaporized to 3 mm to destroy disease in skin appendages. Eighty-three percent of lesions involved nonhairy areas alone. Seventy-two percent of cases were cured by one laser application, 25% by two, and one case by three. Two patients had permanent hair loss after healing. The laser is an appropriate modality for lesions in nonhairy areas but scalpel excision is probably better for vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia in hairy areas.

Carcinoma in Situ

Laser cylindrical excision to replace conization.

This report describes the procedures and results of two techniques, which were developed by the senior author (V.C.W.), for eliminating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia involving, to some degree, the endocervical canal. These are excision by carbon dioxide laser of a tall cylinder of tissue for pure endocervical lesions and shallow excision of a similar specimen followed by peripheral vaporization. In 364 consecutive referred cases one of these two procedures was performed. A total of 15.9% of patients required attention for bleeding; most cases were managed in the clinic. Near-normal tissue mass and a squamocolumnar junction at the os were observed during 3 to 60 months of follow-up. In 95.9% of cases, over half of which were grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, normal cytologic and colposcopic findings were demonstrated after one laser procedure. A repeat laser procedure was used to eliminate persistent disease identified at 3 or 6 months. Five hysterectomies were performed. These procedures appear to be therapeutically effective, appear to preserve organ function, and allow regeneration of cervical mass.

Adenocarcinoma

Age at beginning of coitus versus chronologic age as a basis for Papanicolaou smear screening: an analysis of 747 cases of preinvasive disease.

Disease onset in 747 routinely screened women who developed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia was analyzed. Average age at diagnosis was 30 years; the range was 16 to 71 years. In 19% diagnosis was made after age 35, and in 1% after age 60. Grouping cases by age at beginning of coitus produced significant differences (p less than 0.001) in cumulative proportions of patients with the diagnosis made at any age. In 11% of patients initiating intercourse between ages 15 and 17 diagnosis was made after age 35; the figure was 19% for the 18 to 19 age group and 36% for the 20+ group. Screening by chronologic age is effective for women initiating intercourse early. Screening by years of exposure to intercourse produced a uniform distribution regardless of age at beginning of coitus. In 75% the diagnosis was made within the first 15 years of intercourse, in 88% by year 20; and in 97% by year 30. In 70% the diagnosis was made between 6 and 20 years. Cytologic surveillance should be concentrated during the sixth through twentieth years when most cases develop.

Adolescent

Carbon dioxide laser surgery for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

During 1977-1983, 787 consecutive referred cases of CIN were treated by vaporization of a dome-shaped defect, by excision of a cylindrical specimen, or a combination of procedures where 48% were CIN III. Vaporization was used for 72% of CIN I, 76% of CIN II, and 64% of CIN III cases. Less than 15% of vaporization and all excision cases were done in hospital under anesthesia; 11% had delayed bleeding requiring attention (admission was required in 2%); 100% of CIN I, 96% of CIN II, and 96% of CIN III cases were cured. Persistent disease was diagnosed at the first (96%) or second (4%) visit. Subsequent treatment included laser and less than 1% hysterectomy. Overall cure for laser surgery was 99.5%. Sixty-eight patients subsequently became pregnant; outcomes were normally distributed. Treatment success is related to adequate volume of tissue removed.

Adult

Laser surgery for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: principles and results.

Four hundred twenty-nine consecutive cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were managed by one of three techniques of carbon dioxide laser surgery: dome-shaped vaporization of ectocervical lesions, cylinder-shaped excision of endocervical disease, or a combination of the two in the case of ectocervical disease that extended into the lower cervical canal. Ninety-two patients (21.5%) had grade 1, 137 (31.9%) had grade 2, and 200 (46.6%) had grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The success rates subsequent to one surgical intervention were 97.8% for grade 1, 94.9% for grade 2, and 94.5% for grade 3 of the disease. Success for the entire patient population was 95.3% after the first treatment. A second treatment was required in 20 cases: 18 laser procedures and two hysterectomies. The overall success of laser surgery (one or two procedures) approached 100%. Complications were negligible. These findings suggest that these techniques are very effective in eliminating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of all degrees when a planned approach is followed.

Carbon Dioxide

Age at time of first intercourse v. chronologic age as a basis for Pap smear screening.

The Walton Report on cervical cancer screening programs recently recommended a new program for screening for cervical cancer based on chronologic age, calling for 3- and 5-year intervals between examinations. It recommended that such examinations be discontinued after 60 years of age. In a group of 232 routinely examined women (aged 18 to 47 years) in whom cervical intraepithelial neoplasia developed the timing of onset of the disease and the implications for screening were studied. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 30 years; in 20% of the patients the diagnosis had been made after age 35. The screening program recommended in the Walton Report would have been effective in diagnosing most cases (80%) in this sample by age 35 and all by age 60. However, when the patients were grouped according to age at the time of first intercourse, the diagnosis had been made after age 35 in only 13% of those who started having intercourse at age 15 to 17 years, 20% of those who started at age 18 to 19 years and 33% of those who started at age 20 years of later. When the times of diagnosis were expressed by number of years of intercourse the distributions became uniform in the same three groups; in 72% of all the patients the diagnosis had been made within the first 15 years of intercourse, in 88% it had been made within 20 years and in 100% it had been made by 30 years. These data suggest that a program based on number of years of intercourse may be more uniform and more efficient than one based on chronologic age, and that cytologic examinations should be concentrated during the time when most cases develop -- 6 to 20 years after the time of first intercourse.

Adolescent

Laser surgery: using the carbon dioxide laser.

In 1917 Einstein theorized tha through an atomic process a unique kind of electromagnetic radiation could be produced by stimulated emission. When such radiation is in the optical or infrared spectrum it is termed laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) light. A laser, a high-intensity light source, emits a nearly parallel electromagnetic beam of energy at a given wavelength that can be captured by a lens and concentrated in the focal spot. The wavelength determines how the laser will be used. The carbon dioxide laser is now successfully employed for some surgical procedures in gynecology, otorhinolaryngology, neurosurgery, and plastic and general surgery. The CO2 laser beam is directed through the viewing system of an operating microscope or through a hand-held laser component. Its basic action in tissue is thermal vaporization; it causes minimal damage to adjacent tissues. Surgeons require special training in the basic methods and techniques of laser surgery, as well as in the safety standards that must be observed.

Humans

The management of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: the use of the carbon dioxide laser.

This report concerns the experience of an abnormal Pap smear clinic in treating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The CO2 laser was the primary treatment method in 283 consecutive cases during 1977-1981, which fulfilled the criteria for conservative management. Seven percent of cases were performed in hospital as out-patients; the remainder were performed in the clinic without anesthesia. The location and shape of the defect was individualized in each case to conform to the topography of the cervix. The basic configuration, however, was the same for all cases; a dome-shaped defect with a curved apex and straight sides of at least 6 mm in height. Laser surgery was well tolerated; few post-operative complications arose. The squamocolumnar junction reappeared in each case at the level of the external os, facilitating follow-up. Eleven cases (3.9%) exhibited persistent disease within 3 months of primary treatment. Thereafter no primary laser failures occurred. Follow-up in this series ranged from 18 to 36 months. Failure rates for CIN grades are as follows: CIN I, 1.3%; CIN II, 2.0%; CIN III, 7.3%. No case of persistent disease was of greater severity than was originally diagnosed. Ten of the 11 cases were successfully managed with repeat laser surgery, yielding an overall therapeutic success rate of 99.6%. These data indicate that laser surgery is the most efficacious conservative method for eradicating this disease.

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide laser management of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

In this report we describe the use of the carbon dioxide laser for the outpatient management of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). A comparison of treatment effectiveness for different grades of CIN is also included. Two hundred fifty-six cases were evaluated by colposcopy, cytology, and histopathology, treated by at least 5 to 6 mm of laser vaporization, and followed up for an average of 10.7 months. Follow-up examinations included cytology, colposcopy, and directed biopsy if a suspicious lesion was discovered. During the follow-up, 18 cases of persistent CIN were identified (7.0%). Most of these were successfully managed with repeat laser treatment. Overall success of laser surgery for CIN, one or two applications, was 97.6%. Few complications were encountered. Laser surgery appears to offer acceptable treatment effectiveness, early identification of persistent disease, and easy retreatment when required.

Carbon Dioxide

The conservative management of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: the use of cryosurgery and the carbon dioxide laser.

This study comprises 336 consecutive patients of whom 283 were candidates for conservative therapy involving either cryosurgery or the carbon dioxide laser for the management of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). A total of 152 patients were treated first in the series with cryosurgery followed by 131 patients in the laser group. Distribution of disease classification within CIN groups was similar. The overall persistent disease after one treatment was higher in the cryo group (14.5 per cent) as compared to the laser group (3.1 per cent). Of particular significance is the high percentage of failures in the cryo treated group (25.0 per cent) with CIN III disease as compared to the CIN III laser treated group (7.7 per cent). The high persistent disease rate observed in the CIN III lesions treated by cryosurgery suggests that this modality be employed with caution in this disease classification.

Carbon Dioxide

Use of a topical antibiotic spray in vaginal surgery.

During vaginal hysterectomy with or without colporrhaphy a topical aerosol spray containing neomycin sulfate, polymyxin B sulfate and zinc bacitracin was used in 50 patients to decrease the change of postoperative pelvic infection; a placebo spray was used in another 50 patients. All patients were treated preoperatively with povidone iodine and postoperatively with nitrofurantoin and an antibacterial irrigating solution for the bladder if catheter drainage was necessary. The frequency of postoperative pelvic infection was 16% in the group sprayed with the antibiotic combination and 34% in the group sprayed with the placebo, a significant difference (P less than 0.05).

Administration, Topical