Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Bladder: A Case Report.

Primary bladder large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) is a rare, aggressive neoplasm with high recurrence rates and poor prognosis. Traditional management has heavily relied on radical cystectomy, which, despite its aggressiveness, often results in unsatisfactory outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests the potential for less invasive, bladder-sparing approaches, yet detailed reports and long-term outcomes remain scarce. We report a groundbreaking case of a 59-year-old male diagnosed with primary bladder LCNEC, managed through a pioneering bladder-sparing multimodal treatment. This novel strategy included transurethral resection followed by a tailored chemoradiation protocol, resulting in exceptional disease control and preservation of bladder function over a 20-month follow-up period, without evidence of recurrence. This case underscores the viability of bladder conservation strategies as a legitimate alternative to radical cystectomy for managing LCNEC, presenting a beacon of hope for patients wishing to preserve bladder functionality. It prompts a reevaluation of traditional treatment paradigms and advocates for further research into multimodal, organ-sparing approaches for this challenging malignancy.

Lethal Immune Myocarditis and Myasthenia Gravis Due to Anti-PD-1 Treatment for a Bladder Cancer Patient: A Case Report and Possible Treatment Inspiration.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have become a new hope for many patients with advanced cancer by blocking tumor immune escape. Bladder cancer is a common malignant tumor of the urinary tract epithelium that often relapses and metastasizes after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Immunotherapy has dramatically improved patient survival rates and clinical benefits as a new, potentially effective therapy. However, avoidance of various immune-related adverse events (irAEs) remains an implausible idea. ICI-induced myocarditis is different from viral myocarditis, and mortality is still high with the current treatment. We report the case of an 82-year-old female patient with ICI-induced fulminant myocarditis and myasthenia gravis. Although she actively accepted the current mainstream treatment for immune-related myocarditis and myasthenia, she died of heart and respiratory failure. Analyzing and reporting the patient's disease development process and the changes in related indicators may help peers gain a deeper understanding of immune-related adverse events and reduce the mortality of immune-related myocarditis.

Measurement of Five Emotions Defined by Traditional Chinese Medicine With a Focus on Preventing Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop a novel Measurement of the Five Emotions (MFE) based on traditional Chinese medicine for assessing cognitive impairment in elderly individuals. Methods: Surveys were collected from 184 participants, over 65 years of age, who were residents of Kyoto City, Japan. The surveys included the Measurement of the Five Emotions (MFE) and the Dementia Assessment Sheet for the Community-based Integrated Care System (DASC-21). Item-total reliability and internal consistency reliability were assessed using Spearman's correlation test and Cronbach's alpha coefficient analysis. Factor analysis was conducted to identify the main factors related to the theoretically constructed emotional reaction patterns. Criterion-related validity was examined by investigating the correlation between the scores of the 2 surveys (MFE and DASC-21). Results: The factor analysis revealed that the final version of MFE consisted of 5 factors, which accounted for a cumulative contribution rate of 57.71%. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient reached .71, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. There was a negative correlation between the MFE and DASC-21 scores with a correlation coefficient of -.3149. Furthermore, when comparing participants with lower cognitive function (DASC-21 score >26) to those with higher cognitive function, MFE subscale scores in the emotions of "Sorrow" and "Thought" were significantly lower, suggesting that these particular emotions are related to cognitive impairment. These findings confirmed the reliability and the construct validity of the MFE. Conclusion: The criterion reliability and validity tests provided evidence for the construct validity of the MFE. The negative correlation (coefficient = -.3149) between MFE scores and DASC-21 scores suggested that MFE can serve as a scale for detecting cognitive impairment.

Assessment of the Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy for the Treatment of Patients with Nondilated Collecting System.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for kidney stone patients without hydronephrosis. Methods: Patients with nondilated collecting system kidney stones who underwent PCNL between October 2018 and December 2019 at our hospital were enrolled in this study. Patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomized into two groups: a CEUS-guided PCNL group and a conventional ultrasound (US)-guided PCNL group. The operation results of the two groups were compared, including the number of attempts for effective puncture, duration to effective puncture, stone clearance rate, blood loss, postoperative complications, and hospital stay. Results: Fifty-six patients with a nondilated collecting system who underwent PCNL for 60 kidneys were included in this study, including 4 patients who underwent bilateral PCNL due to bilateral renal stones. There were 30 kidneys in each group. All patients successfully underwent PCNL. The CEUS-guided PCNL group had more accurate punctures, with a higher effective rate of one puncture and shorter puncture time. There was no statistically significant difference in stone clearance rate between the two groups. Four cases of double channels were established in the conventional US-guided PCNL group, while there was only one case in the CEUS-guided PCNL group. In the CEUS-guided PCNL group, most cases (96.7%, 29/30) had no or only mild complications, which were significantly better than the conventional US-guided PCNL group (76.7%, 23/30). The mean postoperative hemoglobin loss in the CEUS-guided PCNL group was 9.5 (range 1-25) g/L, which was significantly lower than 15.5 (range 5-52) g/L in the conventional US-guided PCNL group. Conclusion: The CEUS technique can improve visibility of the nondilated renal collecting system, facilitate selection of suitable calix, and identify renal calix fornix. It also benefits needle placement in patients with a nondilated collecting system.

Ceftazidime-related urinary calculi in a young boy: a case report.

Certain drugs can cause kidney stones but as far as we are aware, ceftazidime-related urinary calculi have not been previously reported. We report here a case of an 8-year-old boy who developed hydronephrosis secondary to urinary calculi after receiving ceftazidime 2.0 g by intravenous infusion daily for two weeks. Previously, his left kidney showed no signs of disease. A retrograde double J ureteral stent was inserted, ceftazidime terminated, fluids increased and urine alkalised. On day 25, the patient showed no signs of kidney stones or hydronephrosis. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of ceftazidime-related urinary calculi particularly if patients are receiving long-term treatment.

Is the En Bloc Transurethral Resection More Effective than Conventional Transurethral Resection for Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: En bloc transurethral resection (ERBT) is a major topic of discussion as an alternative to conventional transurethral resection (cTURBT) for the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) addressing the limitations of cTURBT. METHODS: We searched through electronic databases including Embase, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar for articles published up to April 1, 2019; RevMan 5.3 was used to conduct this meta-analysis. Results were expressed as 95% confidence intervals (CI) and risk differences (RD). RESULTS: Nine trials met the inclusion criteria (n = 1,020 patients): 1 study was a randomized controlled trial including a total of 142 participants, 4 studies had a prospective paired design including 605 patients, and 4 studies were retrospective (n = 273 patients). Duration of continuous postoperative bladder irrigation (RD -0.16; 95% CI -3.47 to 0.28; I2 = 97%; p = 0.10) and operation time (RD 0.05; 95% CI -0.23 to 0.32; I2 = 79%; p = 0.74) were not significantly different between ERBT and cTURBT. However, hospitalization time (I2 = 96%; χ2 = 203.16; p = 0.01) and catheterization time (I2 = 95%; χ2 = 163.24; p = 0.02), as well as 24-month recurrence rate (I2 = 0%; χ2 = 0.98; p = 0.008) were significantly better using the ERBT scheme. The incidence of urethral stricture between both schemes (95% CI -0.03 to 0.02; p = 0.50) was not different, but complications such as obturator nerve reflex (95% CI 0.01 to 0.12; p < 0.00001) and bladder perforation (95% CI 0.05 to 0.59; p = 0.50) were less frequent in the ERBT group. CONCLUSION: ERBT is an effective treatment approach with some advantages for NMIBC. Our meta-analysis revealed that hospitalization time, catheterization time, and 24-month recurrence rate is superior in patients treated with ERBT than cTURBT, and ERBT patients also have a lower complication rate. Furthermore, ERBT improves the quality of tumor specimens and decreases the frequency of repeat transurethral bladder cancer resection. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm our results.