Radical Vaginal Trachelectomy with Drs. Christhardt Köhler and Achim Schneider

Podcast Description: In this episode of the IJGC podcast, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Pedro Ramirez is joined by Drs. Christhardt Köhler and Achim Schneider to discuss radical vaginal trachelectomy. Prof. Christhardt Köhler is a highly accomplished gynecologist and obstetrician specializing in oncological gynecology. He is the Chief Physician of the Department of Gynecology at Asklepios Hospital Altona Hamburg and has won the Briker Award and the Robert B. Hunt Endowed Award. Dr. Kohler is a member of several professional associations, including the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics. His expertise is recognized worldwide, and he is listed in the FOCUS top list of physicians for gynecological operations and tumors. He has 1381 scientific publications focusing on spinal muscular atrophy, cervical cancer, and innovative gynecological surgery approaches. Achim Schneider, born on September 17, 1950, in Augsburg, is a distinguished German gynecologist and obstetrician. He earned his doctorate in 1975 and has since made significant contributions to the field, including pioneering new laparoscopic surgical techniques in gynecological oncology in Germany. Schneider held prestigious professorships at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and the Charité in Berlin. He has focused on the diagnosis and treatment of genital neoplasms, HPV-associated ano-genital neoplasms, and fertility-preserving surgery for cervical cancer patients. Currently, he heads the dysplasia consultation at the Medical Care Center in Berlin, continuing his impactful work in minimally invasive procedures and cancer prevention.

Highlights:

• Radical vaginal trachelectomy is a fertility-preserving treatment for early cervical cancer, but large studies on its outcomes are lacking.
• In a study of 471 patients (median age 33), 62% sought pregnancy with a 73% success rate, and 46% experienced pre-term delivery; recurrences occurred in 3.4% of cases, with a 2.1% mortality rate.
• The study confirms the oncologic safety of the procedure and suggests that high pre-term delivery rates may be due to cervical volume loss, providing a benchmark for future surgical modifications