Multi-Institutional Study of Dorsal Onlay Urethroplasty of the Membranous Urethra after Endoscopic Prostate Procedures: Operative Results, Continence, Erectile Function and Patient Reported Outcomes.

(1) Background: To critically evaluate dorsal onlay buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty (DOBMGU) for posterior urethral stenosis repair following transurethral resection and other endoscopic prostate procedures. (2) Methods: A retrospective multi-institutional review of patients with membranous or bulbomembranous urethral stenosis for whom treatment with DOBMGU was conducted after receipt of prostate endoscopic procedures. Baseline data, peri-operative care, post-operative care and patient-reported outcomes were analyzed. The primary outcomes were procedural failure and development of de novo stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The secondary outcomes were changes in voiding, sexual function and patient satisfaction. (3) Results: A total of 107 men with a mean age of 69 ± 9.5 years and stenosis length of 3.5 ± 1.8 cm were included. Prior endoscopic procedures among participants were 47 patients (44%) with monopolar TURP, 33 (30.8%) with bipolar TURP, 16 (15%) with Greenlight laser, 9 (8.4%) with Holmium laser enucleation and 2 (1.9%) with bladder neck incision. At a mean follow-up time of 59.3 ± 45.1 months, stenosis recurred in 10 patients (9.35%). Multivariate analysis confirmed that postoperative complications (OR 12.5; p = 0.009), history of radiation (OR 8.3; p = 0.016) and ≥2 dilatations before urethroplasty (OR 8.3; p = 0.032) were independent predictors of recurrence. Only one patient (0.9%) developed de novo SUI. Patients experienced significant improvement in PVR (128 to 60 cc; p = 0.001), Uroflow (6.2 to 16.8 cc/s; p = 0.001), SHIM (11.5 to 11.7; p = 0.028), IPSS (20 to 7.7; p < 0.001) and QoL (4.4 to 1.7; p < 0.001), and 87 cases (81.3%) reported a GRA of + 2 or better. (4) Conclusions: DOBMGU is an effective and safe option for patients with posterior urethral stenosis following TURP and other prostate endoscopic procedures. This non-transecting approach minimizes external urinary sphincter manipulation, thus limiting postoperative risk of SUI or erectile dysfunction.

A multi-institutional critical assessment of dorsal onlay urethroplasty for post-radiation urethral stenosis.

PURPOSE: To critically evaluate a multi-institutional patient cohort undergoing Dorsal-Onlay Buccal Mucosal Graft Urethroplasty (D-BMGU) for recurrent post-radiation posterior urethral stenosis. METHODS: Retrospective multi-institutional review of patients with posterior urethral stenosis from 10 institutions between 2010-2019 was performed. Patients with at least 1-year follow-up were assessed. Patient demographics, stenosis characteristics, peri-operative outcomes, and post-operative clinical and patient-reported outcomes were analyzed. The primary outcomes were stenosis recurrence and de-novo stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Secondary outcomes were changes in voiding, sexual function, and patient-reported satisfaction. RESULTS: Seventy-nine men with post-radiation urethral stenosis treated with D-BMGU met inclusion criteria. Median age and stenosis length were 72 years, (IQR 66-75), and 3.0 cm (IQR 2.5-4 cm), respectively. Radiation modalities included: 36 (45.6%) external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), 13 (16.5%) brachytherapy (BT), 10 (12.7%) combination EBRT/BT, and 20 (25.3%) EBRT/radical prostatectomy. At a median follow-up of 21 months (IQR 13-40), 14 patients (17.7%) had stenosis recurrence. Among 37 preoperatively-continent patients, 3 men (8.1%) developed de-novo SUI following dorsal onlay urethroplasty. Of 29 patients with preoperative SUI all but one remained incontinent post-operatively (96.6%). Following repair, patients experienced significant improvement in PVR (92.5 to 26 cc, p = 0.001) and Uroflow (4.6 to 15.9 cc/s, p = 0.001), and high overall satisfaction, with 91.9% reporting a GRA of + 2 or better). CONCLUSION: Dorsal onlay buccal mucosa graft urethroplasty is a safe and feasible technique in patients with post-radiation posterior urethral stenosis. This non-transecting approach may confer low rates of de-novo SUI. Further research is needed to compare this technique with excisional urethroplasty.

Narrative Comments about Urologists on Physician Rating Websites Provide Insight into What Drives Patient Satisfaction Surveys.

INTRODUCTION: We examined publicly available narrative comments on physician rating websites and how they may provide valuable insight on what motivates patients to provide positive or negative feedback. METHODS: Searches of all American urologists who are members of the Northeastern Section of the American Urological Association were performed across 5 major physician rating websites. Narrative comments were classified by reviewers as positive or negative, and assessed for mention of 7 factors including punctuality/ease of appointment, bedside manner, time spent with the patient, communication/education skills, quality of staff, technical aspects of care and followup care. Providers without narrative comments were excluded from analysis, as were neutral comments. RESULTS: Bedside manner, technical aspects of care and communication/education skills were the more frequently citied aspects of care throughout all narrative comments. However, negative comments were more likely to mention staff quality than communication/education skills. In addition, female urologists received more comments and higher ratings than male urologists, and urban urologists received more comments and higher ratings than rural urologists. CONCLUSIONS: Bedside manner, technical aspects of care and communication/education skills are key elements that influence the satisfaction of urological patients. Furthermore, staff quality and punctuality are patient care areas in which urologists may benefit from improving. Further research is warranted to better understand the effects of practitioner gender and geography on patient reported satisfaction with care.

Longitudinal Effects of Single Hindlimb Radiation Therapy on Bone Strength and Morphology at Local and Contralateral Sites.

Radiation therapy (RTx) is associated with increased risk for late-onset fragility fractures in bone tissue underlying the radiation field. Bone tissue outside the RTx field is often selected as a "normal" comparator tissue in clinical assessment of fragility fracture risk, but the robustness of this comparison is limited by an incomplete understanding of the systemic effects of local radiotherapy. In this study, a mouse model of limited field irradiation was used to quantify longitudinal changes in local (irradiated) and systemic (non-irradiated) femurs with respect to bone density, morphology, and strength. BALB/cJ mice aged 12 weeks underwent unilateral hindlimb irradiation (4 × 5 Gy) or a sham procedure. Femurs were collected at endpoints of 4 days before treatment and at 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 26 weeks post-treatment. Irradiated (RTx), Contralateral (non-RTx), and Sham (non-RTx) femurs were imaged by micro-computed tomography and mechanically tested in three-point bending. In both the RTx and Contralateral non-RTx groups, the longer-term (12- to 26-week) outcomes included trabecular resorption, loss of diaphyseal cortical bone, and decreased bending strength. Contralateral femurs generally followed an intermediate response compared with RTx femurs. Change also varied by anatomic compartment; post-RTx loss of trabecular bone was more profound in the metaphyseal than the epiphyseal compartment, and cortical bone thickness decreased at the mid-diaphysis but increased at the metaphysis. These data demonstrate that changes in bone quantity, density, and architecture occur both locally and systemically after limited field irradiation and vary by anatomic compartment. Furthermore, the severity and persistence of systemic bone damage after limited field irradiation suggest selection of control tissues for assessment of fracture risk or changes in bone density after radiotherapy may be challenging. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Functionally deficient mesenchymal stem cells reside in the bone marrow niche with M2-macrophages and amyloid-ß protein adjacent to loose total joint implants.

We sought to demonstrate whether there is a difference in the local mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) niche obtained from patients undergoing their first total joint replacement surgery versus those patients undergoing a revision surgery for an failing total joint implant. Bone marrow aspirates collected from patients undergoing revision total joint arthroplasty were observed to be less clonal and the expression of PDGFRα, CD51, ALCAM, endoglin, CXCL12, nestin, and nucleostemin were decreased. Revision MSC were also less able to commit to an osteoblast-lineage or an adipocyte-lineage. Further, in revision MSC, OPG, and IL6 expression were increased. Monocytes, derived from revision whole marrow aspirates, were less capable of differentiating into osteoclasts, the cells implicated in the pathologic degradation of bone. Osteoclasts were also not observed in tissue samples collected adjacent to the implants of revision patients; however, the alternatatively activated M2-macrophage phenotype was observed in parallel with pathologic accumulations of amyloid-ß, τ-protien and 3-nitrotyrosine. Despite the limited numbers of patients examined, our data suggest that nucleostemin may be a useful functional marker for MSC while the observation of M2-macrophage infiltration around the implant lays the foundation for future investigation into a novel mechanism that we propose is associated with loose total joint implants.