It is necessary to utter a caution in regard to the occurrence of cancer
of the cervix after subtotal hysterectomy. I removed a uterus
containing a large globular submucous fibroid from a barren married
woman forty-five years of age. Six years later she came under my
observation with a large granulating and bleeding growth on the cervix
uteri. I had no doubt from the naked-eye characters that this was a
primary carcinoma, although it surprised me to find it there, especially
as the woman had never been pregnant. On my urgent representations she
allowed me to remove the cervix. On microscopic examination the
suspected cancer turned out to be a granuloma. Two years later the
patient was in good health. Polk has recorded a similar experience.
These facts show that caution is necessary in accepting reports of
cancer of the uterine stump after subtotal hysterectomy.
=Cancer of the body of the uterus and fibroids.= In deciding between
total and subtotal hysterectomy for fibroids the probable presence of
cancer requires consideration in another aspect. Although uterine
fibroids do not predispose to cancer of the neck of the uterus, many
writers in recent years have expressed their suspicions that the
presence of a submucous fibroid favours the development of cancer in the
corporeal endometrium. Piquand, in 1905, drew attention to this matter
and emphasized what other observers had pointed out, namely, that a
submucous fibroid is often associated with changes in the mucous
membrane of the uterus, which not only causes excessive bleeding, but
sets up inflammatory conditions giving rise to leucorrhœa, salpingitis,
pyosalpinx, and morbid changes in the endometrium, rendering it
susceptible to cancer. His statistics support his conclusions, for they
represent that in one thousand women with fibroids fifteen will probably
have cancer of the body of the uterus. My own observations support this
opinion. This complication is found most frequently between the fiftieth
and the sixtieth year of life. If we narrow the ages of the patient and
exhibit the liability in its most emphatic form it would run thus: that
in patients submitted to hysterectomy for fibroids over the age of fifty
years, about ten per cent of them will have cancer of the corporeal
endometrium.
In 1906 I looked through the case-notes of five hundred patients who had
been submitted to operation for uterine fibroids under my care. Of these
sixty-three patients had attained the age of fifty years and upwards.
Among these sixty-three women there were eight cases of cancer of the
corporeal endometrium; the nature of the disease in each case was
verified by careful microscopic examination.
Consequently, in performing subtotal hysterectomy for fibroids in women
of fifty years and upwards, the surgeon should have the uterus opened
immediately after its removal and assure himself that the endometrium is
free from cancer. If there be any suspicion in this direction he should
remove the cervix.
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