Peritoneoscopy: a technique to evaluate therapeutic efficacy in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients.
Peritoneoscopy was performed in 22 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as a re-staging technique to rule out relapse or persistence of active disease after intensive chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Fifteen patients with previous hepatic involvement achieved a complete clinical remission; however, five patients (33%) had persistent disease proved by biopsy at peritoneoscopy. In seven patients suspected to have a clinical relapse, peritoneoscopy biopsies documented relapse in three patients (43%), including two patients with negative percutaneous liver biopsies. Because of its low morbidity rate (4%), peritoneoscopy can be utilized to re-stage hepatic involvement by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients more accurately than percutaneous liver biopsies and with less morbidity than laparotomy.
D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D012008:Recurrence; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D013997:Time Factors