Wertheim Operations for Cancer of the Cervix

The 600 Wertheim cases are composed of three series ; the first consisting of 405 cases ( 1950 to 1963) from Frankfurt under the chairmanship of Professor Naujoks; the second consisting of 85 cases (1953 to 1962) from St. Gall, Switzerland, where I was at the time head of the department; and the third consisting of 110 cases ( 1963 to 1965) from Frankfurt (table 1) . In these 600 cases neither the technique nor the indications were identical. Before 1958, lymphadenectomy was not used in Frankfurt; however, since then it has been an essential part of the procedure, and has been used in all cases from St. Gall. Since 1963, radical operations have not been used for so-called microcarcinomas or stage Ia League of Nations cases. In these cases we are now using a so-called "small" Wertheim operation consisting of a hysterectomy with a small parametrial and vaginal cuff and, for experimental reasons only, a bilateral lymphadenectomy.