Prevalence of Occult Malignancy Within Morcellated Specimens Removed During Laparoscopic Sacrocolpopexy.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of occult malignancy found in morcellated specimens removed in the context of pelvic organ prolapse repair operations.

METHODS

A total of 786 cases were reviewed from a single health system between October 2006 and July 2015. Thorough chart reviews were performed to include pathological specimens. Demographic, perioperative, and postoperative data were collected.

RESULTS

Four occult malignancies were identified including 3 endometrial adenocarcinomas of the uterus and 1 papillary serous carcinoma of the uterus. The overall prevalence of occult malignancy within morcellated specimens was 0.5% (4 of 786). On adopting universal screening with endometrial biopsy, 5 malignancies were identified (5 of 176) before morcellation and no postoperative malignancies in the remaining patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Power morcellation is a low-risk procedure with laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy and sacrocolpopexy. Universal screening is highly effective in detecting occult malignancy and in our small series eliminated the risk; studies in multiple institutions will be needed to determine its effectiveness in other hospital systems.