Ky. Look et al., BLOOD-TRANSFUSION AND THE RISK OF RECURRENCE IN SQUAMOUS CARCINOMA OFTHE VULVA, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 168(6), 1993, pp. 1718-1723
OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine if postoperative transfusion i
ncreases the risk of recurrence in patients who have undergone operati
on for squamous carcinoma of the vulva. STUDY DESIGN: Data from 154 pa
tients with squamous carcinoma of the vulva treated at Indiana Univers
ity Medical Center from 1974 through 1988 were retrospectively analyze
d to determine the influence of postoperative transfusion on recurrenc
e risk. Patients were evaluated for International Federation of Gyneco
logy and Obstetrics stage, lesion size, lesion depth, grade, patient a
ge, number of transfusions, and recurrence with chi2 analysis, Fisher'
s exact test. and the Student t test where appropriate. RESULTS: Trans
fusions were given to 57 patients (37%) with a mean of 2.2 units deliv
ered (range 1 to 5 units). Transfused patients differed significantly
from those not transfused in that they had more advanced stage (p = 0.
002), more positive nodes (p = 0.03), and higher grade lesions (p = 0.
03), and they were older (p = 0.005). Recurrences developed in 25 pati
ents (16.2%). Recurrences were more common in those with positive node
s (10-39, 25.6%) than in those with negative nodes (8/99, 8%), (p = 0.
01). Only nodal status was predictive of recurrence in this series. Tr
ansfused patients had a 14% (8/57) rate of recurrence, whereas the rec
urrence risk was 17.5% (17/97) in those not transfused (p = 0.65). CON
CLUSIONS: We have been unable to confirm that postoperative transfusio
ns increase the risk of recurrence in patients with squamous carcinoma
of the vulva.