Male Urethral Diverticulum with Stones Presenting as Acute Urinary Retention.

The urethral diverticulum is an outpouching of the urethral wall communicating with its lumen. Acquired male urethral diverticulum is a rare entity and arises secondary to intervention or distal urethral obstruction. Most patients present with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Development of calculi is seen in 4-10% of cases. We describe a case of a 63-year gentleman who presented with urinary tract infection (UTI) and acute urinary retention (AUR). He denied history of urolithiasis. Per-urethral catheterization failed, so a supra-pubic catheter was placed and UTI was managed with broad-spectrum parenteral antibiotics. On workup, he was found to have a large tubular urethral diverticulum in the anterior urethra with multiple stones and urethral strictures. The case was managed endoscopically with optical urethrotomy and fragmentation and retrieval of stones using a semi-rigid ureteroscope and pneumatic lithoclast. Key Words: Urethra, Diverticulum, Male, urethral calculus, Lithoclast.

Predicting emergency interventions in patients with acute ureteral colic using acute renal colic scoring system in a Pakistani cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the acute renal colic score (ARC) in predicting the need of emergency intervention (EI) in patients with ureteric colic secondary to a ureteral stone. PATIENT AND METHODS: In an emergency room (ER) of a university hospital, we conducted a prospective cohort study over a period of 6 months. ARC score was calculated using four parameters, i.e., serum creatinine, total white cell count (TLC), stone length and level. Primary outcome measure was EI, which was defined as the need of endourological intervention within 48 h of presentation. ARC was calculated for each patient against the two possible outcomes, i.e., EI vs. no EI. The need of intervention was based on patient-related clinical factors and the decision of the attending urologist. RESULTS: The study included 132 patients. EI was performed in 85 patients (64.4%). URS was the most common intervention performed in 81 (95.3%) patients, followed by the a insertion of a double J stent in two (2.4%) patients for forniceal rupture and high TLC count and percutaneous nephrostomy in two (2.4%) patients for raised creatinine and TLC. All four variables in ARC score including serum creatinine (p < 0.001), TLC (p < 0.001), stone size (p < 0.001) and stone level (p < 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with need for EI. Using ROC the sensitivity and specificity of the score was 92.9% and 87.5%, respectively, with AUC of 0.93. CONCLUSIONS: ARC score is highly sensitive and specific in determining the need of EI in patients with uncomplicated ureteric colic within 48 h of initial presentation.

Hounsfield units-a significant predictor of lasering time and energy in the management of upper urinary tract stones using Holmium: Yttrium-Aluminum Garnet lasers.

PURPOSE: To study the impact of stone density as assessed by Hounsfield units (HU) on total laser energy (TLE) used and total laser time (TLT) spent in complete fragmentation of upper urinary tract stones. In addition, we also studied the impact of stone composition on the laser energy and time required for fragmentation. METHODS: Thirty consecutive patients fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. Patients with renal or proximal ureteral stones with a size of 5-20 mm were included. Stone fragmentation was performed using Ho:YAG 100 W laser and TLT and TLE were correlated with the HU and stone composition. RESULTS: The mean stone diameter was 10.83 ± 3.5 mm and the mean HU was 893 ± 315. The mean TLE and TLT were 8.86 ± 3.12 kJ and 18.46 ± 6.9 min, respectively. We observed a strong positive correlation between HU and TLE (r = 0.84, p value < 0.001) and between HU and TLT (r = 0.58, p value = 0.001). However, the stone composition did not influence the lasering energy (p value = 0.36) and lasering time (p value = 0.30). Stone diameter also had significant positive correlation with TLE (r = 0.41; p = 0.02) and TLT (r = 0.54; p- 0.002). When controlling for stone size the correlation of HU with TLE (r = 0.83; p < 0.001) and TLT (r = 0.52; p = 0.004) remained significant. CONCLUSIONS: HU and stone diameter are significant predictors of TLE and TLT when using Ho:YAG laser for stone fragmentation. However, stone composition and stone location failed to show any significant effect on either of these parameters.