Iron needs increase exponentially during pregnancy to meet the increased demands of the fetoplacental unit, to expand maternal erythrocyte mass, and to compensate for iron loss at delivery. In more than 80% of countries in the world, the prevalence of anemia in pregnancy is > 20% and could be considered a major public health problem. The global prevalence of anemia in pregnancy is estimated to be approximately 41.8%. Undiagnosed and untreated iron deficiency anemia (IDA) can have a great impact on maternal and fetal health. Indeed, chronic iron deficiency can affect the general wellbeing of the mother and leads to fatigue and reduced working capacity. Given the significant adverse impact on maternal-fetal outcomes, early recognition and treatment of this clinical condition is fundamental. Therefore, the laboratory assays are recommended from the first trimester to evaluate the iron status. Oral iron supplementation is the first line of treatment in cases of mild anemia. However, considering the numerous gastrointestinal side effects that often lead to poor compliance, other therapeutic strategies should be evaluated. This review aims to provide an overview of the current evidence about the management of IDA in pregnancy and available treatment options.

Ovarian cancer (OC) represents one of the most lethal cancers in women. The aim of surgical treatment is complete cytoreduction in advanced stages and a surgical staging in early stages. Although the guidelines still suggest laparotomy as the standard approach, in recent years minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has become increasingly popular in the treatment of OC, especially in early stages, because the 5-year relative survival exceeds 90% and the patients' quality of life cannot be overshadowed. However, MIS has been demonstrated to have a role even in advanced stages, in the prediction of optimal cytoreduction, identification patients who may benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and, more recently, in the interval debulking surgery, as in selected cases of secondary cytoreduction for recurrent ovarian cancer. The aim of this review is to describe the MIS (especially robotic surgery), with its advantages and pitfalls, in the treatment of OC.

Although the management of gynecological cancers recurrences may be challenging, due to the heterogeneity of recurrent disease, the aim of this work is to present a descriptive analysis of gynecological malignancies recurrences in our institution treated by robotic approach. We performed a retrospective review and analysis of data of patients who underwent robotic surgery for recurrent gynecological malignancies at Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, from January 2013 to January 2024. A total of 54 patients underwent successful robotic cytoreductive surgery. The median age was 63 years; the median BMI was 33 kg/m² and most of the patients (59 %) were obese. In 12 cases (22 %) the relapse presented was the second or third relapse. The most frequent patterns of recurrence were represented by lymph nodes (41 %), followed by peritoneal (26 %), pelvic (22 %) and parenchymal (11 %). In all patients complete cytoreduction was achieved. In 29 patients (54 %) the surgical field was previous treated. The median operative time and estimated blood loss were, respectively, 270 min and 100 ml. There were 2 intraoperative complications, managed endoscopically; 10 early postoperative complications, and 3 late postoperative complications. The 2-year progression-free-survival and overall survival were, respectively, 39.8 % and 72.3 %. Robotic approach in the treatment of recurrent gynecological cancers should be considered in selected patients with oligometastatic disease, in high-volume centers with expert surgeons, particularly in obese patients.

Objective: The aim of this retrospective study was to compare surgical and survival outcome in only patients with early-stage UCSs managed by laparotomic surgery (LPT) versus minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Methods: Data were retrospectively collected in four Italian different institutions. Inclusion criteria were UCS diagnosis confirmed by the definitive histological examination, and stage I or II according to the FIGO staging system. Results: Between August 2000 and March 2019, the data relative to 170 patients bearing UCSs were collected: of these, 95 were defined as early-stage disease (stage I–II) based on the histological report at the primary surgery, and thus were included in this study. Forty-four patients were managed by LPT, and 51 patients were managed by MIS. The operative time was lower in the MIS group versus the LPT group (p value 0.021); the median estimated blood loss was less in the MIS group compared to the median of LPT group (p value < 0.0001). The length of hospital stay days was shorter in the MIS patients (p value < 0.0001). Overall, there were eight (8.4%) post-operative complications; of these, seven were recorded in the LPT group versus one in the MIS group (p value 0.023). There was no difference in the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) between the two groups. Conclusion: There was no difference of oncologic outcome between the two approaches, in face of a more favourable peri-operative and post-operative profile in the MIS group.

Background: This study aims to evaluate the strength of the association between frailty and intraoperative/postoperative complications in patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for endometrial cancer. Methods: In this retrospective observational multicenter cohort study, frailty was defined beforehand by a modified frailty index (mFI) score of ≥3. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to investigate possible preoperative predictors—including frailty, age, and body mass index—of intraoperative and early (within 30 days from surgery) or delayed (beyond 30 days from surgery) postoperative complications. Results: The study involved 577 women, of whom 6.9% (n = 40) were frail with an mFI ≥ 3, while 93.1% (n = 537) were non-frail with an mFI of 0–2. Frail women had a significantly higher rate of intraoperative complications (7.5% vs. 1.7%, p = 0.01), with odds 4.54 times greater (95% CI: 1.18–17.60, p = 0.028). There were no differences in the rate of early postoperative complications (15% vs. 6.9%, p = 0.06) and delayed postoperative complications (2.5% vs. 3.9%, p = 0.65) for frail versus non-frail patients. The odds of early postoperative complications increased by 0.7% (95% CI: 1.00–1.15) for every one-unit increase in age (p = 0.032). Conclusions: Frailty was associated with a significantly higher risk of intraoperative complications in older women undergoing MIS for endometrial cancer. Likewise, increasing age was an independent predictor of early postoperative complications. Our findings support the practice of assessing frailty before surgery to optimize perioperative management in this patient population.

The role of secondary cytoreductive surgery (SCS) in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC) has been widely increased in recent years, especially in trying to improve the quality of life of these patients by utilising a minimally-invasive (MI) approach. However, surgery in previously-treated patients may be challenging, and patient selection and surgical planning are crucial. Unfortunately, at the moment, validated criteria to select patients for MI-SCS are not reported, and no predictors of its feasibility are currently available, probably due to the vast heterogeneity of recurrence patterns. The aim of this narrative review is to describe the role of secondary cytoreductive surgery and, in particular, minimally-invasive procedures, in ROC, analyzing patient selection, outcomes, criticisms, and future perspectives.