Groin abscess due to a forgotten midurethral sling connector.

Midurethral slings (MUS) have been used for female stress urinary incontinence throughout the past decade on a worldwide scale. Although this minimally invasive treatment has high success rates, formation of groin abscesses, as well as vaginal and urethral erosions, can occur after the procedure. We report a patient presenting with groin abscess and sinus tract formation after a transobturator tape procedure. The patient exhibited a swollen sinus tract, which drained the abscess at the site of the tape entry to the obturator foramen within her inner left groin. She was referred to our department after unsuccessful medical and surgical treatments. Surgical exploration revealed a forgotten MUS connector located between the mesh and hook within the skin incision. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of such a case.

Pretreatment parameters obtained from peripheral blood sample predicts invasiveness of bladder carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To predict the invasiveness of urothelial bladder carcinoma using a logistic regression model on preoperative peripheral blood samples. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hospital data of patients operated for urothelial carcinoma were reviewed retrospectively. Preoperative blood samples were collected before the first cystoscopic examination. Any kind of infection or inflammation was an exclusion criterion. Patients were grouped as having a non-muscle-invasive or muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma. The mean age was 69 years and was determined as the cut-off value. According to receiver operating characteristic curves, threshold points were determined for lymphocytes, neutrophil count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), thrombocytes and mean platelet volume. Demographic specialties, parameters obtained from blood samples, tumor size and multiplicity were evaluated and significant parameters were put into a logistic regression model. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 80 non-muscle-invasive and 102 muscle-invasive patients. Age (≤69 vs. >69), female gender, NLR (2.57), mean platelet volume (7.9/fl) and platelet count (400,000/µl) were significant parameters and put in a model. Using odds ratios, the probability of tumor invasiveness was calculated by a formula. CONCLUSION: Age, female gender, NLR and platelet count were found to be the predictors of invasiveness of urothelial carcinoma.

Critical appraisal of the PADUA classification and assessment of the R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score in patients undergoing partial nephrectomy.

PURPOSE: We validated the PADUA classification and assessed the R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score to predict perioperative complications of partial nephrectomy. In addition, we assessed their interobserver variability, and the ability to predict the use of ischemia and ischemia time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from consecutive cases of partial nephrectomy with or without ischemia from 3 centers were retrospectively collected. Associations between preoperative variables and complications were evaluated in univariate and multivariate analyses. Reproducibility was assessed by determining Fleiss' generalized kappa and intraclass correlation coefficients in a subcohort scored by 3 physicians with different degrees of urological expertise. RESULTS: A total of 134 partial nephrectomies were included in the study and 31 cases (23%) presented with complications. On univariate analyses complications were associated with age (p = 0.02), tumor size on computerized tomography (p = 0.01), pT stage (p = 0.001), and PADUA (p = 0.001) and R.E.N.A.L. scores (p = 0.02). In 3 multivariate models PADUA score 10 or greater (OR 3.98, p = 0.01), R.E.N.A.L. score 9 or greater (OR 4.21, p = 0.02), tumor size in cm (OR 1.35, p = 0.02) and age (OR 1.04, p = 0.04) were independent predictors of complications. The R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score predicted the use of ischemia (p = 0.03) and both scores predicted ischemia time (both p <0.001). Kappa was 0.37 to 0.80 for PADUA components and 0.23 to 0.73 for R.E.N.A.L. components. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.73 for PADUA and 0.70 for R.E.N.A.L. score. CONCLUSIONS: The highest categories of PADUA and R.E.N.A.L. scores as well as clinical tumor size predict the risk of perioperative complications of partial nephrectomy. Both scores can indicate ischemia time. Their reproducibility is substantial but the implementation of these systems in clinical practice needs further refinement.

Can p53, Ki-67 and bcl-2 predict biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To analyze p53, Ki-67 and bcl-2 expressions immunohistochemically and their predictive role in biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy one patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy between 1992 and 2001 were randomly selected. Tissue microarrays were constructed from their radical prostatectomy specimens. They contained four cores from neoplastic and additional four cores from corresponding non-neoplastic regions. Gleason score ranged from 6-9, and pathological stage ranged from T2N0Mx to T3BN1. Staining for bcl-2 was scored visually taking percent negative, weak, moderate and strong positivity into consideration. Strong immunoreactivity was considered positive for p53. Ki-67 index was measured as the percentage of positive nuclei among tumor cells. Statistical analysis was performed to explore correlations between staining patterns and clinicopathological prognostic parameters. RESULTS: The follow-up period extended from 13 to 112 months with a mean 60 (48 ± 23, 2) months. Of all, 38.02% had no evidence of disease, 52.1% were alive with disease and 9.8% were died during follow-up. The expression of p53, Ki-67 and bcl-2 in tumors were 39%, 76% and 5% respectively. While the secretory layer showed negative or weak bcl-2 staining in most cases, expression in basal cells was often stronger. Statistical analysis revealed differences in staining between normal and carcinoma for all three markers. There was no correlation between staining patterns and time to biochemical relapse. On the other hand, cases with higher Gleason sum showed the tendency for over expression of p53, Ki-67 and bcl-2 although the differences were not statistically different. Multivariate analysis revealed CMS group and seminal vesicle invasion as the independent predictors of PSA failure (log rank P = 0.0039 and P = 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The proteins bcl-2, p53 and Ki-67 were expressed at a different rate in normal and neoplastic prostate tissue. Bcl-2 was mainly expressed by basal cells in normal glands. p53 and Ki-67 expression were increased in most prostate carcinomas. However, overall expression levels did not correlate with biochemical recurrence in this study.