Soft tissue infection after photoselective vaporization of the prostate: a life-threating complication.

Bladder outlet obstruction is a common aetiology of lower urinary tract symptoms in adult men and several treatment options are available. We report on a case of a 73-year-old man with a complicated soft tissue infection due to an urinoma after laser prostatectomy. He was treated by several surgical interventions and long-term antibiotic therapy.

Bilateral Spontaneous Urinoma in a Cyanotic Child.

BACKGROUND: Urinoma is an encapsulated collection of extravasated urine, secondary to trauma or obstructive uropathy. Spontaneous bilateral urinoma is rare. CASE CHARACTERISTICS: 7-year-old boy with cyanotic heart disease and fever of unknown origin. OBESERVATION: The ultrasound abdomen and CT abdomen revealed bilateral spontaneous urinoma which was aspirated and was found to be infected. Following intravenous atibiotics the child became afebrile, with subsequent renal scans showing no recurrence. MESSAGE: Hypoxia and consequent polycythemia may be responsible for perinephric leaks leading to Non-traumatic spontaneous urinoma.

An Unusual Presentation in Urinothorax.

Urinothorax is defined as the presence of urine in the pleural cavity. Leakage from the urinary tract can cause urinoma with retroperitoneal urine collection, and secondarily, urinothorax. We report the case of a 35-year-old female who presented with dyspnoea and right-sided chest pain. Chest radiograph revealed a right-sided pleural effusion. The patient had undergone left-sided ovarian cystectomy three months ago, had sustained a left-sided ureteric injury that required ureteric stent placement. Urinothorax was suspected as a consequence of ureteric injury; pleural fluid to serum creatinine ratio was found to be greater than one, confirming the diagnosis.

Urinothorax as an unusual type of pleural effusion - clinical report and review.

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that there are a great number of established etiologies for pleural effusion, there are grounds for believing that there are also causes from unusual pathophysiological mechanisms, seen in certain clinical contexts and from potential iatrogenic interventions. Urinothorax is such a rare type of pleural effusion as there are fewer than 70 cases reported worldwide. CLINICAL CASE: A patient with a persistent left pleural effusion was admitted to the Urology ward for a lithiasic obstructive uropathy with hydronephrosis. A left percutaneous nephrostomy was performed. The effusion was unclassified at the initial workup and recurred after first drainage. A second approach confirmed a citrine fluid with borderline criteria for exudate, ammoniacal odour and an elusive pleural fluid-to-serum creatinine ratio. A retroperitoneal urinoma was recognized on CT, and the patient underwent a left nephrectomy with resolution of the pleural effusion. CONCLUSIONS: Urinothorax most frequently develops in patients with excretory uropathy or blunt abdominal trauma, although other mechanisms have been reported. Traditionally, a pleural fluid to serum creatinine ratio higher than one is a hallmark of this condition. In certain settings, taking this diagnosis into account at an early stage might be crucial for a good outcome.

The impact of perinatal urinoma formation on renal function: our experience and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: A urinoma is a fluid mass consisting of extravasated urine in the perirenal space. Its impact on renal function was analysed. METHODS: All cases of prenatal and neonatal urinoma reported in the literature were analysed as well as two cases recently observed in our department. RESULTS: A review of all prenatally diagnosed urinomas revealed 25 cases, for a total of 30 renal units. The cause of obstruction was: lower urinary tract (LUT) obstruction in 16 cases (62.5%), upper urinary tract (UUT) obstruction in seven cases (29.5%) and unknown in two cases (8%). A preserved renal function was found in only 30% of all cases. Furthermore, prognosis for renal function was better in posterior urethral valve (PUV) patients than in uretero-pelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) patients. In addition, we analysed 35 published cases of urinoma with a neonatal onset, without prenatal diagnosis, and secondary to LUT obstruction in 27 cases (77%), UUT obstruction in seven cases (20%), while the underlying cause was unknown in one cases (3%). A preserved renal function was observed in 84% of cases with UUT obstruction and in 80% of cases presenting a LUT obstruction. CONCLUSIONS: Prognosis concerning renal function seems to be mainly related to two factors: age at presentation and underlying diagnosis. Decompression of the urinary tract by urine extravasation produces the best results in terms of preservation of the renal function in LUT obstruction (75% in prenatal and 84% in postnatal cases); UUT obstruction however is associated with a good prognosis in the neonatal period (80% of preserved renal function) but with a severe impairment (only 20% of preserved renal function) in prenatally detected cases.

Cicatrização renal após nefrectomia parcial laparoscópica sem fechamento do sistema coletor em porcos / Kidney healing after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy without collecting system closure in pigs

Introdução: Embora alguns estudos tenham descrito as semelhanças e diferenças anatômicas entre o rim humano e o rim suíno, pouco é conhecido sobre a cicatrização renal neste animal. O conhecimento da cicatrização do rim do porco é especialmente importante em procedimentos cirúrgicos que incisem o tecido renal e o sistema coletor, como é o caso da nefrectomia parcial. O objetivo do presente trabalho é estudar a cicatrização renal em porcos após nefrectomia parcial laparoscópica sem o fechamento do sistema coletor. Materiais e Métodos: Quatorze porcos machos com peso médio de 30 kg foram submetidos à nefrectomia parcial laparoscópica esquerda, removendo 25% do comprimento renal no pólo caudal (n=7) ou no pólo cranial (n=7). A técnica cirúrgica empregada envolveu acesso laparoscópico transperitoneal, clampeamento em bloco dos vasos renais, excisão do tecido renal com tesoura a frio e aplicação de energia monopolar para hemostasia do parênquima, deixando o sistema coletor aberto. Os animais foram avaliados clinicamente por 14 dias e então foram mortos. Níveis séricos de creatinina e uréia foram obtidos antes e em diferentes momentos após a cirurgia. São relatados ainda os achados de necropsia, pielografia retrógrada ex vivo e aspectos histológicos dos pólos renais operados. Resultados: Os níveis séricos de uréia e creatinina tiveram leve aumento inicial retornando aos valores pré-operatórios durante o período avaliado. Durante a necropsia verificou-se que não houve extravasamento de urina a partir do rim operado e que este se cobriu com tecido fibroso, aderindo-se aos tecidos adjacentes. Nas pielografias retrógradas não foi verificado nenhum extravasamento de contraste pelos pólos operados. Os achados histológicos mostraram grande deposição de colágeno tipo I sobre o pólo renal operado, vedando-o completamente. Conclusão: O rim suíno não é um bom modelo para pesquisas ou treinamento cirúrgico em que a cicatrização do sistema coletor seja um aspecto importante.

Introduction: Although some studies have described similarities and diferences between human and pig kidney anatomy, little is known regarding renal healing in this animal model. The knowledge of pig kidney healing is especially important in surgical procedures which incise the renal parenchyma and collecting system, such as partial nephrectomy. The aim of this study is to access kidney in pigs after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy without closuring of the collecting system. Materials and Methods: Fourteen male pigs with mean weight of 30 kg were submitted to left partial laparoscopic nephrectomy, removing 25% of the kidney length at caudal pole (n=7) or at cranial pole (n=7). Briefly, the surgical technique involved a transperitoneal laparoscopic access, en bloc vascular clamping of renal artery an vein, tissue excision with cold scissor and monopolar energy parenchyma hemostasis, leaving the collecting system opened. The animals were clinically evaluated during fourteen days, and afterwards were killed. Serum levels of creatinine and urea were assessed prior and at different moments after surgery. Necropsy findings, retrograde ex vivo pyelogram and histological aspects of operated renal poles are also described. Results: Serum creatinine and urea showed a slight initial increase with a gradual return to preoperative levels during the evaluated period. At necropsy, no signs of urine leakage were found and kidneys were covered by a fibrous tissue with adherences to adjacent organs. Also, in the retrograde pyelograms obtained, we did not find contrast medium leakage by operated poles. Histological findings showed great deposition of type I collagen over operated renal pole, sealing it completely. Conclusion: The pig kidney is not an adequate experimental model for research and training of surgery on which collecting system healing is an important aspect to be considered.

Lithium toxicity and the parturient: case report and literature review.

A 39-year-old gravida 8, para 6 woman at 34 weeks of a twin gestation was admitted to the antenatal ward with severe agitation and restlessness. She had a history of unstable bipolar disorder for which she was treated with lithium. Before admission she had been under close supervision by psychiatric and obstetric teams and lithium levels had been stable. However, an acute deterioration in renal function secondary to ureteric obstruction resulted in toxic plasma lithium levels and associated clinical features. An emergency caesarean section was carried out under general anaesthesia. We provide a review of the current literature including: the pharmacology of lithium, the effects of lithium on fetus and mother, and the current guidelines for management of lithium treatment during pregnancy. Lithium is prescribed relatively rarely during pregnancy. We aim to increase awareness about the issues involved in the management of women receiving lithium during pregnancy.