Ventriculoperitoneal (VP shunts) and lumboperitoneal shunts (LP shunts) are used to treat hydrocephalus. The effectiveness of LP shunts has recently been demonstrated. Due to population aging, the number of patients with LP shunts is expected to increase. A 51-year-old female, in whom an LP shunt had been inserted to treat hydrocephalus after a subarachnoid hemorrhage, underwent laparoscopic right salpingo-oophorectomy for a right endometriotic cyst. We consulted a neurosurgeon and confirmed the route of the shunt. We started a normal laparoscopic procedure. The head of the shunt tube was located in Douglas' pouch and was an obstacle to the procedure. We moved the head of the shunt tube to the vesicouterine pouch and successfully conducted the standard operation. We report the case together with a literature review. There have been several reports about gynecological laparoscopic surgery being performed in patients with VP shunts. On the other hand, we did not find any English literature about gynecological laparoscopic surgery being conducted in patients with LP shunts during a PubMed search. This is the first report about gynecological laparoscopic surgery being performed in a patient with an LP shunt.
In Japan, the governmental recommendation for HPV vaccination was suspended in June 2013 because of media reports of so-called adverse vaccine events. The HPV vaccination rate in Japan prior to this suspension was almost 70%, but fell afterward to almost zero. To explore ways to bolster HPV vaccination, between 2014 and 2019 we conducted three serial surveys of the opinions of obstetricians and gynecologists about HPV vaccination. This study aimed to discuss the changing attitudes found in this 5-year follow-up survey. In August 2014, January 2017, and June 2019, we posted questionnaires to about 570 obstetricians and gynecologists practicing in Osaka, Japan. All three surveys used the same structured and closed-ended questionnaire, including questions about their personal opinions regarding HPV vaccination. We compared our new results to those of the previous two surveys. The response rate for the latest survey was 51.1% (293/573), which was equivalent to the previous two surveys. Among the responders, 83.3% (244/293) now thought that the Japanese government should restart its HPV vaccine recommendation, and 84.6% (248/293) were already recommending HPV vaccines for teenagers in their daily care. Eleven of 30 doctors (36.7%) had their own teenage daughters vaccinated against HPV after the suspension of recommendation. The rate has maintained an increasing trend from the previous two surveys. This study indicated that the attitude of obstetricians and gynecologists in Japan toward HPV vaccination has changed positively over 5 years. The results should serve as an encouragement to resume the governmental recommendation of HPV vaccines.
In Japan, the rate of cervical cancer screening is remarkably low, especially among women in their twenties and thirties, when cervical cancer is now increasing dramatically. The aim of this study was to test whether a modified government reminder for 20-year-old women to engage in cervical cancer screening, acting through maternal education and by asking for a maternal recommendation to the daughter to receive the screening, could increase their participation rate.In two Japanese cities, 20-year-old girls who had not received their first cervical cancer screening before October of fiscal year 2014 were randomized into two study arms. One group of 1,274 received only a personalized daughter-directed reminder leaflet for cervical cancer screening. In the second group of 1,274, the daughters and their mothers received a combination package containing the same reminder leaflet as did the first group, plus an additional informational leaflet for the mother, which requested that the mother recommend that her daughter undergo cervical cancer screening. The subsequent post-reminder screening rates of these two study arms were compared.The cervical cancer screening rate of 20-year-old women whose mothers received the information leaflet was significantly higher than that for women who received only a leaflet for themselves (11% vs 9%, P = 0.0049).An intervention with mothers, by sending them a cervical cancer information leaflet with a request that they recommend that their daughter receive cervical cancer screening, significantly improved their daughters' screening rate.
