Endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery in the prone split-leg position versus Galdakao-modified supine Valdivia position for the management of partial staghorn calculi.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the outcome of ECIRS in the treatment of partial staghorn renal calculi in both prone split-leg positions versus GMSV positions with regard to; technical aspects, success rate, operative time, complications, safety, and effectiveness of both approaches. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between October 2018 and August 2021, 66 patients with partial staghorn calculi were enrolled in this prospective comparative study. Patients were randomly divided according to a 1:1 ratio into two groups. Group A included 33 patients who were treated by (ECIRS) in the prone split-leg position, and group B included 33 patients who were treated by (ECIRS) in the Galdakao-modified supine Valdivia (GMSV) position. RESULTS: No significant statistical difference between both groups regarding the mean age (p = 0.448), mean body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.137), mean stone burden (p = 0.435), mean operative time (p = 0.541) and the number of calyces located in branched stones (p = 0.628). The mean hospital stay was 6.71 ± 1.12 days for group A and 6.66 ± 1.10 days for group B patients (p = 0.724). The final SFR was achieved in (29)87.87% and (30)90.9% of group A & B patients, respectively (p = 0.694). No significant difference was detected between both groups in perioperative complication rates. CONCLUSION: ECIRS is safe and effective in treating partial staghorn calculi either in the prone split-leg position or in the Galdakao-modified supine Valdivia position, with comparable outcomes and no statistically significant difference between both positions.

Extravesical Common Sheath Ureteral Reimplantation Versus Intravesical Techniques for Refluxing Duplex Systems in Children.

PURPOSE: Retrospective comparative study of the efficacy of extravesical non-dismembered common sheath ureteral reimplantation (ECSR) versus intravesical common sheath ureteral reimplantation (ICSR) techniques for the correction of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in complete duplex systems. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 2010 and 2019, ECSR was performed in 38 children (8 bilaterally), and the mean ages at presentation and at surgery were 31 and 57 months, respectively. The ICSR technique was performed in 25 units (25 patients). Voiding cystography and ultrasound of the kidney and bladder were performed 3 and 12 months postoperatively. We analyzed the surgical outcomes for both groups. RESULTS: The mean follow-up times for the ECSR and ICSR groups were 15 and 18 months, respectively. The success rate of the ECSR group was 93.5% at 3 months, improving to 95.7% at an average of one year; the rate of the ICSR group was 96% at 3 months and was the same after one year, with no significant difference between the two groups (p = .66). Postoperative complications were compared in the ECSR and ICSR groups: transient contralateral VUR was seen in 5 renal units versus 4, de novo hydronephrosis was seen in 3 units versus 2, and UTIs were observed in 3 patients versus 4. CONCLUSION: Both (ECSR) and (ICSR) surgeries are highly successful for the correction of VUR in uncomplicated complete duplex systems. The results of the extravesical approach are comparable with those of the intravesical technique with less morbidity and a shorter hospital stay. Thus, ECSR is our preferred technique when open surgical repair is indicated. ICSR should be reserved for complicated duplex systems necessitating concomitant reconstructive surgery.

Efficacy of an enuresis alarm, desmopressin, and combination therapy in the treatment of saudi children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.

PURPOSE: We evaluated and compared the effectiveness of an enuresis alarm, desmopressin medication, and their combination in the treatment of Saudi children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 136 children with PMNE were randomly assigned to receive an enuresis alarm alone (EA group, n=45), desmopressin alone (D group, n=46), or a combination of both (EA/D group, n=45). Patients were followed weekly during treatment and for 12 weeks after treatment withdrawal. RESULTS: During treatment, wetting frequencies were significantly reduced in all groups and remained significantly lower than pretreatment values until the end of follow-up. In the D and EA/D groups, an immediate reduction in wetting frequencies was observed, whereas a longer time was required to reach a significant reduction in the EA group. The full and partial response rates were 13.3% and 37.8% in the EA group, 26.1% and 43.5% in the D group, and 40.0% and 33.3% in the EA/D group. A significant difference was observed only between the EA and EA/D groups (p=0.025). Relapse rates were higher in the D group (66.6%) than in the EA (16.6%) and EA/D (33.3%) groups. A significant difference was observed between the D and EA groups only (p=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Desmopressin, an enuresis alarm, and combined therapy are effective in the treatment of Saudi children with PMNE. Desmopressin produced an immediate effect but relapses were common. The enuresis alarm provided gradual effects that persisted posttreatment. The combined therapy was superior to the alarm in achieving an immediate response; however, its effect was not better than that of the alarm long term.

Practice patterns and recurrence after partial cystectomy for bladder cancer.

PURPOSE: Partial cystectomy (PC) remains a viable alternative to radical cystectomy (RC) for management of invasive bladder cancer in approximately 5% of patients. We used a population-based database to examine practice patterns and recurrence after partial cystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained billing records of all partial and radical cystectomies performed for bladder cancer in Quebec from 1983 until 2005. Analysis included age, gender, year of surgery, surgeon's age, hospital type, preoperative and postoperative visits with accompanying diagnoses and dates of recurrences salvage RC, and death. RESULTS: A total of 714 (30.4%) patients with invasive bladder cancer underwent PC. Majority of PC (65%) were performed in non-academic institutions. Pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in only 163 patients (23%) and concomitant ureteral reimplantation was performed in 89 patients (13%). Of 714 patients, 52 (23.7%) required a salvage RC. Median time from PC to salvage RC was 17.6 months (range 1-240 months), respectively. Patients who underwent PC had similar 5-year overall survival compared with patients who underwent upfront RC (49.8% vs. 51%, p = 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: Rate of PC for invasive bladder cancer is significantly higher than expected. Pelvic lymphadenectomy is underutilized in bladder cancer patients treated with PC. Whether prevalent use of PC is due to less stringent selection criteria remains unknown. Since late recurrence is not uncommon, lifelong follow-up is recommended.

Impact of treatment delay in patients with bladder cancer managed with partial cystectomy in Quebec: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: Treatment delays have been associated with adverse outcomes in patients with bladder cancer treated with radical cystectomy (RC). We sought to evaluate the impact of treatment delay on disease recurrence and survival in patients with bladder cancer treated with partial cystectomy (PC) in Quebec. METHODS: We reviewed and obtained billing records for all patients who underwent PC and/or RC for bladder cancer in Quebec between 1983 and 2005. Analysis included age, sex, year of surgery, surgeon's age, hospital type, preoperative and postoperative visits with accompanying diagnoses and dates of death. RESULTS: A total of 714 patients underwent PC. The median patient age was 70 years. Two-hundred nineteen (30.7%) patients experienced recurrence; of these, 52 (23.7%) required salvage RC. Five-year overall and recurrence-free survival for patients who underwent PC were 49.8% and 40.3%, respectively. Patients delayed more than 12 weeks from transurethral resection of bladder tumours (TURBT) to PC were at significantly increased risk of requiring salvage RC compared with those delayed 12 weeks or less (hazard ratio [HR] 3.0, p < 0.001). Patients who underwent salvage RC had worse survival than patients who had upfront RC (HR 1.5, p = 0.006). Variables including age, sex, presence of hematuria, intravesical therapy, surgeon age, hospital PC volume, surgeon PC volume, type of hospital (academic v. nonacademic) or year of surgery were not significantly associated with PC treatment delay. CONCLUSION: Treatment delay in patients with bladder cancer managed with PC was associated with increased risk of salvage RC. Patients with bladder cancer who underwent salvage RC had worse outcomes than those who had upfront cystectomy.

Dietary habits and prostate cancer detection: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have suggested that nutritional factors may affect prostate cancer development. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between dietary habits and prostate cancer detection. METHODS: We studied 917 patients who planned to have transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostatic biopsy based on an elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, a rising serum PSA level or an abnormal digital rectal examination. Before receiving the results of their biopsy, all patients answered a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. In combination with pathology data we performed univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses for the predictors of cancer and its aggressiveness. RESULTS: Prostate cancer was found in 42% (386/917) of patients. The mean patient age was 64.5 (standard deviation [SD] 8.3) years and the mean serum PSA level for prostate cancer and benign cases, respectively, was 13.4 (SD 28.2) mug/L and 7.3 (SD 4.9) mug/L. Multivariable analysis revealed that a meat diet (e.g., red meat, ham, sausages) was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer (odds ratio [OR] 2.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.55-4.87, p = 0.027) and a fish diet was associated with less prostate cancer (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.32-0.89, p = 0.017). Aggressive tumours were defined by Gleason score (>/= 7), serum PSA level (>/= 10 mug/L) and the number of positive cancer cores (>/= 3). None of the tested dietary components were found to be associated with prostate cancer aggressivity. CONCLUSION: Fish diets appear to be associated with less risk of prostate cancer detection, and meat diets appear to be associated with a 3-fold increased risk of prostate cancer. These observations add to the growing body of evidence suggesting a relationship between diet and prostate cancer risk.

An analysis of preoperative delays prior to radical cystectomy for bladder cancer in Quebec.

BACKGROUND: The province of Quebec has the highest incidence of urothelial tumours in Canada. Radical cystectomy remains the standard treatment for invasive bladder cancer. We have previously observed that prolonged delays between transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) and radical cystectomy lead to worse survival in Quebec. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to characterize the various periods of delay sustained by bladder cancer patients before radical cystectomy across Quebec and to determine their relation to survival. METHODS: We obtained the billing records for all patients treated with radical cystectomies for bladder cancer across Quebec from 1990 to 2002. Collected information included patient age and sex; dates of family physician (FP) and specialist visits with accompanying diagnoses; dates of cystoscopy, TURBT and CT scanning; surgeon age; surgical volume and dates of death. RESULTS: We analyzed a total of 25 862 visits for 1633 patients. Median diagnostic delays from FP to specialist, then to cystoscopy, then to TURBT and finally from TURBT to CT were 20, 11, 4 and 14 days, respectively, over the entire study period. Median overall delay from FP visit to radical cystectomy was 93 days. In addition, median FP to radical cystectomy delay progressively increased from 1990 to 2000 from 58 to 120 days (p < 0.01). Multivariate analyses showed that patients with an overall delay of either < 25 or > 84 days had a 2.1 and 1.4 times increased risk of dying, respectively (p 84 days may translate into worse outcomes. Poor survival in cases with < 25 days delay may be attributed to case selection, with more advanced cases being managed much quicker. Poor survival in cases with delays of > 84 days may be attributed to disease progression while awaiting completion of management.

Rigid ureteroscopy for ureteral stones: factors associated with intraoperative adverse events.

PURPOSE: To analyze some of the factors that may be associated with a higher incidence of complications during management of ureteral stones by rigid ureteroscopy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed all ureteroscopic interventions aimed at stone extraction and/or fragmentation in our institution from 2001 through 2005. A total of 442 interventions were eligible for inclusion. Our focus was concentrated on (1) patient characteristics (age, gender, duration of symptoms, history of urinary schistosomiasis, and history of surgery involving the affected ureter), (2) stone characteristics (number, length, width, and level of the ureter affected), (3) the affected reno-ureteral unit (which side was affected, the kidney's ability to excrete contrast medium, and the status of the ureter proximal and distal to the stone), and finally (4) experience level of the surgeon in charge (junior v senior). The occurrence of intraoperative adverse events was considered a dependent variable and was statistically related to each of the above factors as independent variables. RESULTS: Intraoperative adverse events were encountered in 121 interventions including stone migration in 54, minor mucosal injuries in 24, ureteral perforation in 12, ureteral avulsion in 2, and aborted procedure due to bleeding or edema in 29. Symptomatology present for more than 3 months, a negative history of schistosomiasis, a positive history of ureteral surgery, stones above the ischial spines, stones >5 mm in width, a dilated proximal ureter, kidneys that failed to excrete contrast medium, and involvement of a more junior urologist were factors that were associated with a statistically significantly higher incidence of intraoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS: Rigid ureteroscopic stone manipulation remains a procedure that should be handled cautiously. Existence of any of the above risk factors should alert urologists, particularly at training centers, to adopt all possible precautionary measures.

PAX2 is reactivated in urinary tract obstruction and partially protects collecting duct cells from programmed cell death.

Obstruction of the urinary tract activates apoptotic pathways in collecting duct cells and leads to loss of renal parenchyma before surgical intervention. It has been suggested that developmental pathways may be reactivated to offset acute organ damage. One such molecule, PAX2, is expressed throughout the fetal collecting duct and was recently shown to suppress apoptosis during kidney development. We hypothesized that acute unilateral urinary tract obstruction (UUO) reactivates PAX2 expression in the mature kidney and partially suppresses apoptosis. If so, animals with PAX2 mutations should have increased susceptibility to parenchymal damage. Wild-type and heterozygous Pax2 mutant (C3H/Pax2(1Neu)) mice underwent unilateral ureteric ligation or sham operation at 6 wk of age; kidneys were examined after 5, 10, and 15 days. Whereas PAX2 protein levels fell to low levels in the first weeks of life, it was sharply reactivated by day 10 in collecting duct cells of wild-type but not in Pax2(1Neu) mutant mice with UUO. Wild-type mice with UUO had marked TUNEL and cleaved spectrin staining in tubular cells and reduced kidney weight after 10-15 days. Mutant mice had exaggerated increases in markers of apoptosis and exaggerated loss of renal parenchymal loss in the obstructed kidney. These observations suggest that PAX2 is rapidly reactivated in UUO and that mice with genetically limited PAX2 expression have heightened susceptibility to apoptosis.

Subsequent prostate cancer detection in patients with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia or atypical small acinar proliferation.

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the predictors of prostate cancer in follow-up of patients diagnosed on initial biopsy with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP). METHODS: We studied 201 patients with HGPIN and 22 patients with ASAP on initial prostatic biopsy who had subsequent prostatic biopsies. The mean time of follow-up was 17.3 months (range 1-62). The mean number of biopsy sessions was 2.5 (range 2-6), and the median number of biopsy cores was 10 (range 6-14). RESULTS: On subsequent biopsies, the rate of prostate cancer was 21.9% (44/201) in HGPIN patients. Of these, 32/201 patients (15.9%), 9/66 patients (13.6%) and 3/18 patients (16.6%) were found to have cancer on the first, second and third follow-up biopsy sessions, respectively. In ASAP patients, the cancer detection rate was 13/22 (59.1%), all of whom were found on the first follow-up biopsy. There was a statistically significant difference between the cancer detection rate in ASAP and HGPIN patients (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the independent predictors of cancer were the number of cores in the initial biopsy, the number of cores (> 10) in the follow-up biopsy and a prostate specific antigen (PSA) density of >/= 0.15 (odds ratio 0.77, 3.46 and 2.7,8 respectively; p < 0.04). Conversely, in ASAP patients none of these variables were found to be associated with cancer diagnosis. CONCLUSION: ASAP is a strong predictive factor associated with cancer when compared with HGPIN. The factors predictive of cancer on follow-up biopsy of HGPIN are number of cores on initial biopsy, more than 10 cores in rebiopsy and elevated PSA density. As the cancer detection rate on repeated biopsy of HGPIN patients is the same as that of patients without HGPIN, perhaps the standard of repeat biopsy in all patients with HGPIN should be revisited.

Recoverability of renal function after treatment of adult patients with unilateral obstructive uropathy and normal contralateral kidney: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: To study the methods of prediction of recoverability of renal function after the treatment of adult patients with unilateral obstructive uropathy and a normal contralateral kidney. METHODS: This prospective study included 91 consecutive adult patients with the diagnosis of unilateral obstructive uropathy and a normal contralateral kidney. All patients had a nonequivocal cause of obstruction that was successfully relieved after treatment. All patients underwent plain abdominal x-ray, gray-scale ultrasonography, Doppler ultrasonography, excretory urography, and technetium-99m-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid radioisotope renography before and after treatment. Patients were seen regularly at 3, 6, and 12 months for a mean duration of 13 +/- 6 months (range 6 to 36). At each visit, ultrasonography and renography were performed, and excretory urography was performed at least once during follow-up. Several renographic and ultrasound parameters were studied before and after treatment to evaluate their value in predicting the recoverability of renal function. The difference between the selective renographic glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of the ipsilateral kidney before treatment and its mean value after treatment was considered as the reference variable to which all other variables were compared. All prognostic parameters were evaluated by both univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: On univariate analysis, the factors that significantly affected the recoverability of renal function after the relief of obstruction included preoperative renographic GFR, renal perfusion, parenchymal thickness, parenchymal echogenicity, corticomedullary differentiation, reduction of the renal resistive index of the corresponding kidney, and compensatory hypertrophy of the contralateral normal kidney. However, using multivariate analysis, only the preoperative selective renographic GFR and renal perfusion of the corresponding kidney sustained their statistical significance as independent factors affecting renal functional recovery. A preoperative GFR value of 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 was estimated as the cutoff point that can determine the best prediction of stabilization or improvement of renal function after the relief of obstruction. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative renographic clearance and perfusion of the corresponding kidney were the only predictors of recoverability of unilateral renal obstruction. Kidneys with a renographic GFR of less than 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 were irreversibly damaged. Improvement or stabilization of function can be expected after relief of obstruction of kidneys with a renographic GFR of 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 or greater.