Are markers of survival associated with perioperative outcomes for tumor thrombectomy patients?

INTRODUCTION: Despite modern advances in surgical and perioperative technologies, management of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with tumor thrombus (TT) is a morbid procedure that necessitates careful patient selection. It is not known whether established prognostic models for metastatic RCC are suitable prognostic tools for more immediate perioperative outcomes in patients with RCC with TT. We evaluated if established risk models for cytoreductive nephrectomy, as a potential extension of their purpose-built use, are associated with immediate perioperative outcomes in patients undergoing nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy. METHODS: Perioperative outcomes of patients who underwent radical nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy for RCC were compared to presences of established predictors of long-term outcomes from prior risk models individually and as stratified by risk grouping (International Metastatic Renal-Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium [IMDC], Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center [MSKCC], M.D. Anderson Cancer Center [MDACC], and Moffitt Cancer Center [MCC]). Wilcoxon rank-sum test or the Kruskal-Wallis test compared continuous variables and the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test compared categorical variables. RESULTS: Fifty-five patients were analyzed with 17 (30.9%) being cytoreductive. Eighteen (32.7%) patients had a level III or higher TT. Individually, preoperative variables were inconsistently associated with perioperative outcomes. Poorer risk patients per the IMDC model had more major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade≥3, P = 0.008). For the MSKCC model, poorer risk patients had increased intraoperative estimated blood loss (EBL), longer length of stay (LOS), more major postoperative complications, and more likely to discharge to a rehabilitation facility (P < 0.05). Less favorable risk patients per MDACC model had increased LOS (P = 0.038). Poorer risk patients per the MCC model had increased EBL, LOS, major postoperative complications, and 30-day hospital readmissions (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Overall, cytoreductive risks models were heterogeneously associated with perioperative outcomes in patients undergoing nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy. Of available models, the MCC model is associated with more perioperative outcomes including EBL, LOS, major postoperative complications, and readmissions within 30 days when compared to the IMDC, MSKCC, and MDACC models.

Intravascular Ultrasound for the Evaluation and Management of Retroperitoneal, Genitourinary Malignancies.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Herein we provide a review of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and its ability to assist in the evaluation and surgical management of advanced retroperitoneal, genitourinary tumors. RECENT FINDINGS: Advanced retroperitoneal tumors such as advanced renal cell carcinoma, bulky retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy associated with advanced testicular carcinoma, large adrenal tumors, and retroperitoneal sarcomas can invade, compress, or distort vascular anatomy making surgical resection challenging and high risk. Intravascular ultrasonography is commonly used by vascular and cardiothoracic surgery to provide a real time assessment of vascular invasion, compression, and aberrant anatomy to assist with pre-operative and/or intraoperative decision-making. However, the application of this technology to assist with cancer surgery has been limited. The use of intravascular ultrasound prior to radical, extirpative, retroperitoneal surgery involving large vessels can aid in the planning and execution of such challenging operations.