Perinatal outcomes following fetoscopic laser surgery for early twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Our objective was to investigate outcomes in twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) treated with fetoscopic laser surgery (FLS) at <18 weeks vs ≥18 weeks, and to conduct subgroup analysis of TTTS with FLS at <16 weeks vs 16-18 weeks. MATERIAL AND METHODS: PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched systematically from inception until May 2023. Primary outcome was survival, and secondary outcomes included preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), preterm birth and gestational age (GA) at delivery. RESULTS: Nine studies encompassing 1691 TTTS pregnancies were included. TTTS stage III was significantly more common in TTTS pregnancies treated with FLS at <18 weeks (odds ratio [OR] 2.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-6.54), and procedure duration was shorter at <18 weeks (MD -5.27 minutes, 95% CI -9.19 to -1.34). GA at delivery was significantly earlier in TTTS pregnancies treated with FLS at <18 weeks (MD -3.12 weeks, 95% CI -6.11 to -0.13). There were no significant differences in outcomes, including PPROM, PPROM at <7 days post-FLS, preterm birth at <28 and <32 weeks, delivery at <7 days post-FLS, and survival outcomes, including fetal demise, live birth and neonatal survival. Similarly, TTTS stage III was more common in TTTS with FLS at <16 weeks than at 16-18 weeks (OR 2.95, 95% CI 1.62-5.35), with no significant differences in the aforementioned outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In early TTTS treated with FLS, outcomes were comparable between those treated at <18 weeks compared with ≥18 weeks except for GA at delivery, which was 3 weeks earlier. In the subset treated at <16 weeks vs 16-18 weeks, the procedure was feasible without an increased risk of very early preterm birth or perinatal mortality.

Outcomes of open versus robotic partial nephrectomy: a 20-year single institution experience.

Robotic assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN) has emerged in urologic practice for the management of appropriately sized renal masses. We provide a 20-year comparison of the outcomes of open partial nephrectomy (OPN) versus RPN for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) at our institution. An IRB-approved retrospective review was conducted of RCC patients at a single institution from 2000 to 2022 who underwent RPN or OPN. In addition to demographics, procedural details including ischemia and operative time were collected. Oncologic outcomes were evaluated through Kaplan-Meier statistical analysis to determine recurrence-free survival (RFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) analysis. 849 patients underwent RPN while 385 underwent OPN. 61% were male with average age of 58.8 ± 12.8 years. Operative time was shorter in the open group (184 vs 200 min, p = 0.002), as was ischemia time (16 vs 19 min, p = 0.047). However, after 2012, RPN became more common than OPN with improving ischemia time. RPN patients had significantly improved RFS (HR 0.45, p = 0.0004) and OS (HR 0.51, p = 0.0016) when controlled for T-stage and margin status. More > pT1 masses were managed with OPN than RPN (11.2 vs 5.4%, p < 0.0001). At our institution, RPN had an increasing incidence with reduced ischemia time compared to OPN over the last 10 years. While higher stage renal masses were more often managed with OPN, selective use of RPN does offer improved oncologic outcomes. Further investigation is needed to evaluate optimization of the selection of RPN versus OPN in the nephron-sparing management of renal masses.

Adipose tissue dendritic cell signals are required to maintain T cell homeostasis and obesity-induced expansion.

Adipose tissue derived chronic inflammation is a critical component of obesity induced type II diabetes. Major histocompatibility complex II (MHCII) mediated T cell activation within adipose tissue is one mechanism that contributes to this phenotype. However, the contribution of dendritic cells as professional antigen presenting cells in adipose issue has not previously been explored. Using ItgaxCre x MHCIIfl/fl (M11cKO) mice we observed adipose tissue specific changes in adipose tissue leukocytes. While there was a complete knockout of MHCII in dendritic cells, MHCII was also absent on the majority of macrophages. This resulted in reduction of TCR expression in CD4+ T cells in obese adipose tissue, and an increase in CD8+ and CD4+ CD8+ double positive T cells with decreased CD4+ T cells independent of diet type. Increased CD8+ cells were not observed in the spleen, suggesting adipose tissue T cell regulation is tissue specific. In vitro studies demonstrated more potent antigen presentation function in adipose tissue dendritic cells compared to macrophages. Obese M11cKO mice had decreased CD11c+ adipose tissue macrophages. Despite the changes of immune cellularity in adipose tissue, M11cKO largely did not change inflammatory gene expression in adipose tissue and did not demonstrate differences in glucose and insulin intolerance. Overall MHCII expression on CD11c+ cells is important for maintaining CD4+ and CD8+ adipose tissue T cells, but these cellular changes fail to alter inflammatory output and systemic metabolism.