Analysis of the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinomas who are treated surgically and to analyze the occurrence of bladder tumors as well as the development of metastases outside the urinary tract. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised a retrospective analysis of 25 patients treated between February 1994 and August 2006. The variables analyzed were: patient age, gender, and clinical presentation; diagnostic methods; pathologic characteristics at the primary site of the tumor (pelvis or ureter); tumor stage and grade; and presence of carcinoma in situ, microvascular invasion and squamous differentiation. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Log-Rank test were used for statistical analysis of bladder recurrence-free survival. RESULTS: Eighty-four percent of patients were male, and macroscopic hematuria was the most common clinical presentation. The majority of cases (56 percent) were infiltrative (T2-T3) and high-grade (76 percent) tumors. Synchronous or metachronous bladder tumors were found in 72 percent of cases. Five (20 percent) patients had a history of bladder tumor before the diagnosis of upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinomas. The mean follow-up period was 36 months (range: 1.5 to 156). During the follow-up period, eleven (44 percent) patients developed bladder tumors. After five years, the probability of being free of bladder tumor recurrence was 40 percent. No pathological variable was predictive for bladder tumor recurrence. Four patients presented disease recurrence outside the urinary tract. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of metachronous bladder tumors is more often observed after the diagnosis of upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinomas. All of these patients should undergo rigorous follow-up during the postoperative period. Only patients with infiltrative and high-grade tumors developed metastases outside the urinary tract.

Fatores prognósticos da revascularizaçäo na fase aguda do infarto agudo do miocárdio / Prognostic factors of myocardial revascularization in acute myocardial infaction

OBJETIVO: Determinar os fatores preditores de má evoluçäo nos pacientes submetidos a revascularizaçäo do miocárdio (RM) na fase aguda do infarto do miocárdio (IAM). CASUíSTICA E MÉTODOS: No período de março de 1998 a novembro de 1999, 49 pacientes foram submetidos a RM na fase aguda do IAM. Foram excluídos pacientes portadores de complicaçöes mecânicas do IAM e submetidos a procedimentos associados a RM. Os pacientes foram divididos em: Grupo I - 29 casos que näo apresentaram complicaçöes decorrentes do IAM e Grupo II - 20 casos com uma ou mais complicaçöes. As complicaçöes consideradas foram: isquemia recorrente (18 pacientes), insuficiência cardíaca congestiva (11), choque cardiogênico (9), hipotensäo (7), reinfarto (4), taquicardia ventricular sustentada (4) e fibrilaçäo ventricular (3). Os grupos foram considerados comparáveis em relaçäo às características pré-operatórias, exceto pela idade mais avançada no grupo II. No intuito de identificar os fatores determinantes de pior prognóstico pós-operatório, foram correlacionadas e analisadas as características dos pacientes e as complicaçöes do IAM, estudados pelo teste de variância e análise multivariada. RESULTADOS: A mortalidade global foi de 6,12 por cento (3 pacientes), sendo somente no grupo II. A análise multivariada identificou como fatores preditores de mortalidade hospitalar a hipotensäo arterial (p=0,045), o choque cardiogênico (p=0,001) e a fibrilaçäo ventricular (p=0,012). CONCLUSÖES: A RM na fase aguda do IAM é um procedimento seguro em pacientes sem complicaçöes, sem mortalidade operatória. A presença de complicaçöes pré-operatórias como choque cardiogênico, fibrilaçäo ventricular e hipotensäo säo considerados fatores de mau prognóstico nesta condiçäo