A Rare Presentation of Renal Papillary Necrosis in a COVID-19-Positive Patient.

In this case report we describe an unusual presentation of severe acute papillary necrosis in a COVID-19-positive patient. An emergency flexible ureteroscopy greatly helped in the establishment of the diagnosis. In the international literature, there is a paucity of intraoperative endoscopic images representing severe renal papillary necrosis. We present a case of severe acute renal papillary necrosis in a 49-year-old south-Asian, COVID-19-positive male patient who needed emergency urological intervention for macroscopic hematuria and urinary retention due to clot formation in the urinary bladder. The patient underwent emergency cystoscopy, clot evacuation, and by rigid and flexible ureteroscopy. The diagnosis was only confirmed in the postoperative period, retrospectively. Finally, the patient fully recovered due to the multidisciplinary management. Diagnosis of rare clinical entities can be sometimes challenging in the everyday routine practice. Having atypical clinical course, the surgeon should be prepared and sometimes must take responsible decisions promptly, even if needed intraoperatively, to manage unexpected findings in order to get the right diagnosis without compromising the patient's safety.

Treatment of retained encrusted ureteral Double-J stent.

OBJECTIVES: We conducted this study to evaluate patients with retained encrusted ureteral stents, identify the predisposing factors and present our experience in the management of such challenging problem. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study was carried out in the period from May 2007 to February 2011 at the Urology and Nephrology Center, Al-Thawra General Hospital, Sana'a, Yemen. 40 patients with retained encrusted ureteric stents were treated at our center. All patients were initially evaluated with a radiographic imaging for assessment of stent encrustation and stone burden. Treatment decisions were based on the site and severity of encrustations in the renal pelvis, ureter and bladder and on our technical situation and availability of instrumentations. Multi-modal approaches ranging from extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) to endourological and open urologic procedures were used to achieve stent removal. RESULTS: A total of 90 urological procedures were performed to render all 40 patients stent and stone free. The average duration of stent remained indwelling was 24.2 months (range 4 months -16 years). All patients were managed either by minimally or more invasive multi-modal endourological approaches. For upper coil encrustation percutaneous nephrolithotripsy was performed in eight patients, pyelolithotomy in two patients and ESWL in three patients. Encrustation of the body was treated initially by ESWL, followed by retrograde ureteroscopic manipulation in 12 patients. Lower coil encrustation was successfully managed by cystolitholapaxy in seven patients and one patient required cystolithotomy. Cystolithotomy, pyelolithotomy and ureterolithotomy were carried out in two patients. Two patients who had large burden bladder and kidney stones with loss of kidney function underwent nephrectomy and cystolithotomy. CONCLUSIONS: The retrieval of severely encrusted retained ureteral stent and its associated stone burden poses a real management challenge for urologists due to the need for multimodal procedures and the lack of standardized treatment plan.

Very late relapse of testicular tumour in combination with renal cancer and their retroperitoneoscopic removal.

Late relapse of a testicular cancer is an uncommon occurrence. We report a case of late relapse of a testicular tumour combined with a renal cancer and their successful removal with retroperitoneoscopy. The 36-year-old patient underwent left orchiectomy, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, and chemotherapy, because of mixed tumor including teratoma and embryonal carcinoma. 18 years after the successful primary therapy elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein level had been confirmed, then MRI and PET-CT scans demonstrated a 30 mm left renal mass and 22 mm retroperitoneal lymph node above the bifurcation of the left common iliac artery. We performed retroperitoneoscopic lymph node dissection and left renal tumour resection in the same session. The histology revealed embryonal carcinoma for the retroperitoneal lymph node and renal cell carcinoma for the left renal mass. We can conclude that late followup of patients with testicular tumour is important. Retroperitoneoscopy is feasible approach for the removal of retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis and resection of renal tumor.

Endopyelotomy in childhood: our experience with 37 patients.

PURPOSE: To evaluate our experience and results with endopyelotomy in the pediatric population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1990 and 2002, we performed percutaneous antegrade endopyelotomy under general anesthesia in 37 children because of ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) stricture. The youngest patient was 4.5 years and the oldest 17 years at the time of the procedure (mean age 11.5 years). One patient had bilateral stenosis; the two sides were operated on separately. After insertion of a 4F ureteral catheter and filling the collecting system with colored contrast material, a middle calix was punctured under fluoroscopic control. The tunnel was dilated to 26F by telescopic metal dilators. After insertion of a 0.035-inch gidewire through the UPJ, all its layers were cut by a cold knife in the dorsolateral direction so that the periureteral fatty tissue could be seen. Finally, the ureteral wound was stented by a 6F to 12F transrenal drain or a double-J catheter, which was removed after 6 weeks. RESULTS: Among the 37 patients, the procedure had to be repeated in 1 because the transrenal drain stenting the UPJ slid back to the renal pelvis. We had to perform open pyeloplasty or nephrectomy in two patients because of bleeding or failed procedure. The average postoperative hospital stay was 6 days. Comparison of the preoperative intravenous urograms with studies performed 1 year after endopyelotomy showed an overall success rate of 89%. All patients are without complaints at the moment. CONCLUSIONS: In experienced hands, endopyelotomy is a safe and effective method for the treatment of UPJ stricture, not only in the adult, but also in the pediatric, population.