Evaluation of Left Ventricular Outflow Gradients During Staged Exercise Stress Echocardiography Helps Differentiate Pediatric Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy From Athletes and Normal Subjects.

BACKGROUND: Elevated left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradients during exercise can occur in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) as well as in athletes and normal controls. The authors' staged exercise protocol calls for imaging at rest and during each stage of exercise to evaluate the mechanism of LVOT obstruction at each stage. They investigated whether this staged approach helps differentiate HCM from athletes and normal controls. METHODS: They reviewed pediatric exercise stress echocardiograms completed between January 2009 and October 2017 at their center and identified those with gene-positive HCM, athlete's heart, and normal controls. Children with inducible obstruction (those with no LVOT gradient at rest who developed a LVOT peak gradient > 25 mm Hg during exercise) were included. LVOT peak gradient, velocity time integral, acceleration time, and deceleration time were measured at rest, submaximal stages, and peak exercise. RESULTS: Compared with athletes, HCM patients had significantly higher LVOT peak gradients at rest (P = .019), stage 1 of exercise (P = .002), and peak exercise (P = .051), as well as a significantly higher change in LVOT peak gradient from rest to stage 1 (P = .016) and from rest to peak (P = .038). The acceleration time/deceleration time ratio of the LVOT Doppler was significantly lower in HCM patients compared with normal controls at peak exercise. CONCLUSIONS: The HCM patients who develop elevated LVOT gradients at peak exercise typically manifest early obstruction in the submaximal stages of exercise, which helps to differentiate them from athletes and normal controls.

Prospective analysis of Ki-67 as an independent predictor of oncologic outcomes in patients with high grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

PURPOSE: We determined the association of the proliferation marker Ki-67 with pathological parameters and oncologic outcomes in patients with high grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining for Ki-67 was done prospectively in 101 consecutive patients undergoing radical nephroureterectomy/ureterectomy for high grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Data were compared based on Ki-67 status (normal vs over expressed). Survival was assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression analysis was done to identify independent predictors of time dependent outcomes. RESULTS: Median patient age was 70.0 years and median followup was 22.0 months (range 1 to 77). Overall, 30.2% of the population experienced recurrence and 24.8% died of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Organ confined disease (T2 or less and lymph node negative), lymphovascular invasion and sessile architecture were present in 56.3%, 33.3% and 20.8% of patients, respectively. Ki-67 was over expressed in 73.3% of patients and associated with adverse pathological features. Patients with over expressed Ki-67 had significantly worse recurrence-free survival (43.2 vs 69.0 months, p = 0.006) and cancer specific survival (48.9 vs 68.9 months, p = 0.031) than patients with normal Ki-67. Patients with nonmetastatic disease similarly had worse recurrence-free survival (40.7 vs 71.8 months, p = 0.003) and cancer specific survival (41 months vs not attained, p = 0.008) for over expressed vs normal Ki-67. After adjusting for the effects of organ vs nonorgan confined disease Ki-67 over expression was an independent predictor of recurrence-free survival in the total cohort (HR 4.3, p = 0.05) and in patients with nonmetastatic disease (HR 8.5, p = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Ki-67 over expression was associated with adverse pathological features in cases of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. It was also an independent predictor of recurrence-free survival in patients with high grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

Feasibility of obtaining biomarker profiles from endoscopic biopsy specimens in upper tract urothelial carcinoma: preliminary results.

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the feasibility of obtaining a reliable histochemical assessment of cell cycle biomarkers from endoscopic biopsy specimens of patients with upper tract urothelial cancer. METHODS: Overall, 17 patients were identified who had an available biopsy as well as those who underwent subsequent radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) or segmental ureterectomy (SU) for clinically localized high-grade upper tract urothelial cancer of the renal pelvis or ureter. Of those 17 patients, 15 (88%) had sufficient tissue to undergo immunohistochemical staining. Biopsies were obtained using various endoscopic techniques. Tumor characteristics were recorded and prospectively evaluated for immunohistochemical expression of 5 biomarkers: p21, p27, p53, cyclin E, and Ki67/pRb. Unfavorable prognostic score (PS) was defined as>2 altered markers. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 68 years (range: 53-82y) with 87% being males. Of the 15 specimens, 9 (60%) tumors were organ confined (T≤2 and N0), and all were high grade. Of the 15 patients, 4 (27%), 7 (46.6%), 3 (20%), and 1 (6.7%) individuals had 1, 2, 3, and 5 markers altered on biopsy marker profiling, respectively, with Ki67 being the most frequent alteration (13/15; 87.7%). An overall concordance rate of 60% (9/15) was seen between biopsy and RNU/SU PS. Those patients with favorable biopsy biomarker PS were less likely to display adverse pathological features, with organ-confined disease in 7/11 (63.6%) patients and 9/11 (81.8%) being free of carcinoma in situ in the final specimen. Additionally, 10/11 (91%) had no evidence of necrosis and 7/11 (64%) had no evidence of lymphovascular invasion on final pathologic evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary results suggest that obtaining interpretable biomarker profile of ureteroscopic biopsy specimens is feasible. Tumor heterogeneity and limited biopsy material may account for the discordance between biopsy and RNU/SU specimens. Meaningful biopsy biomarker profiling could serve as a powerful tool for individualizing treatment regimens and augmenting current predictive variables. Further studies are needed to evaluate clinical applicability.

Renal function outcomes following selective angioembolization for iatrogenic vascular lesions after partial nephrectomy.

PURPOSE: To report one of the largest series of clinical and renal function outcomes of treated iatrogenic vascular lesions (IVL) after partial nephrectomy (PN). Angioembolization (AE) is the treatment of choice for patients with these lesions, but the additional renal injury conferred by this treatment has not been well described. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent open, laparoscopic, or robot-assisted PN from 2002 to 2012 were identified and those with AE were selected. Patients' charts were reviewed, and renal function was analyzed using estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) classification before and after PN and AE. RESULTS: There were 849 patients who underwent PN and an IVL developed in 28 (3.3%). Twenty (71%) presented with gross hematuria at a mean of 10.2 ± 7.7 days after PN and 8 (28%) needed transfusion. All patients had identifiable IVL at the time of selective AE, and technical success was achieved in 24/28 (86%), although 4 needed subsequent additional AE. The paired decrease in eGFR after PN was significant (P<0.01), while the paired change in eGFR after AE was not with either short-term (2.8 days) or intermediate-term (362 days) follow-up (P=0.50). Four patients experienced transient worsening in CKD classification after AE, although three experienced CKD stage improvement. CONCLUSION: Selective AE for IVL after PN is safe, efficacious, and does not lead to a significant impairment of renal function. It remains the preferred approach for the evaluation and management of post-PN hemorrhage.