The Feasibility of Laparoscopic Surgery in Gynecologic Oncology for Obese and Morbidly Obese Patients.

Background: Surgical interventions are the mainstay of treatment for many gynecological cancers. Although minimally invasive surgery offers many potential advantages, performing laparoscopic pelvic surgery in obese patients remains challenging. To overcome this, many centers have shifted their practice to robotic surgery; however, the high costs associated with robotic surgery are concerning and limit its use.

Comparison of three surgical approaches for staging lymphadenectomy in high-risk endometrial cancer.

Objective: To compare laparotomy, laparoscopy, and robotic surgical approaches to lymphadenectomy for high-risk endometrial cancer staging.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study enrolled patients who underwent surgery for pathologic high-risk endometrial carcinoma at the University Health Network, Toronto, Canada, between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2013. The primary outcome, the median number of nodes retrieved, was compared based on surgical technique.

Emergency Caesarean Section in Obese Parturients: Is a 30-Minute Decision-to-Incision Interval Feasible?

Objective: To determine the effect of obesity on decision-to-incision and decision-to-delivery time intervals in emergency Caesarean section.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study of emergency Caesarean sections performed between 2005 and 2009. Indications for emergency Caesarean section were defined as those posing an immediate threat to the life of the mother or fetus.

The subfornical organ: a central target for circulating feeding signals.

The mechanisms through which circulating ghrelin relays hunger signals to the CNS are not yet fully understood. In this study, we have examined the potential role of the subfornical organ (SFO), a circumventricular structure that lacks the normal blood-brain barrier, as a CNS site in which ghrelin acts to influence the hypothalamic centers controlling food intake. We report that ghrelin increased intracellular calcium concentrations in 28% (12 of 43) of dissociated SFO neurons and that the SFO expresses mRNA for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor.