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Risks associated with gynecologic surgery involving laparoscopic electric morcellation (in which fibroid or uterine tissue is cut into small pieces to facilitate removal) recently received attention stemming from a case in which morcellation of a uterine fibroid was performed in the presence of an undiagnosed leiomyosarcoma. As a result, the scattering of tissue fragments may have led to an upstaging of the patient's cancer. The potential for harm becomes clearer when considering leiomyosarcoma prognoses: Estimated 5-year survival is 60% for patients with stage I disease, 22% for those with stage III disease, and 15% for those with stage IV disease.
Both the paucity of data on preoperative prevalence of leiomyosarcoma in women undergoing gyn…