Application of human amniotic membrane in canine penile tunica albuginea defect: first step toward an innovating new method for treatment of Peyronie's disease.

PURPOSES: To evaluate the efficacy of human amniotic membrane (AM) grafting in the canine penile tunica albuginea defect; we developed an animal model as the first step toward an innovating new method for the treatment of Peyronie's disease, penile cancers, and congenital deformities of the penis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From August to September 2011, ten healthy male dogs were selected. A rhomboid incision about 3 x 2 cm over the tunica albuginea and its overlying squamous epithelium was made and then excised. The amniotic membrane was folded twice on itself and grafted on the defect. After 8 weeks, artificial erection was made for 5 dogs and for the other 5 dogs after 12 weeks. After artificial erection, partial penectomy was done and histopathological evaluation was performed on the grafts. RESULTS: Artificial erection performed successfully in all of the dogs. No infection or any other complication was seen. Histopathological examination showed complete re-epithelialization with squamous epithelium and collagen fiber deposition. Also, no dysplasia was seen. CONCLUSIONS: The amniotic membrane can be used as a suitable substitution for tunica albuginea. It is safe, inexpensive, biodegradable, and available and may be used for the treatment of Peyronie ' s disease, penile cancers, congenital penile deformities, and penile reconstructive surgery.

Application of Human Amniotic Membrane in Canine Penile Tunica Albuginea Defect: First Step toward an Innovating New Method for Treatment of Peyronie?s Disease

Purposes To evaluate the efficacy of human amniotic membrane (AM) grafting in the canine penile tunica albuginea defect; we developed an animal model as the first step toward an innovating new method for the treatment of Peyronie’s disease, penile cancers, and congenital deformities of the penis. Material and Methods From August to September 2011, ten healthy male dogs were selected. A rhomboid incision about 3x2cm over the tunica albuginea and its overlying squamous epithelium was made and then excised. The amniotic membrane was folded twice on itself and grafted on the defect. After 8 weeks, artificial erection was made for 5 dogs and for the other 5 dogs after 12 weeks. After artificial erection, partial penectomy was done and histopathological evaluation was performed on the grafts. Results Artificial erection performed successfully in all of the dogs. No infection or any other complication was seen. Histopathological examination showed complete re-epithelialization with squamous epithelium and collagen fiber deposition. Also, no dysplasia was seen. Conclusions The amniotic membrane can be used as a suitable substitution for tunica albuginea. It is safe, inexpensive, biodegradable, and available and may be used for the treatment of Peyronie’s disease, penile cancers, congenital penile deformities, and penile reconstructive surgery. .

Comparison of health status and quality of life of related versus paid unrelated living kidney donors.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the health status and quality of life (QOL) of paid unrelated versus related living kidney donors postdonation at Shiraz Transplant Center in Iran. We invited all donors (n = 580, 347 paid unrelated, 233 related) who underwent donor nephrectomy at our center from 2004 to 2010 to participate in a health survey and physical examination. Of 580 donors, 144 consented to participate; participation of paid unrelated donors was significantly lower than related (52/347 vs. 92/233; p < 0.001). Participants underwent a complete physical examination, QOL assessment (using a 36-item short form health survey [SF-36] questionnaire) and laboratory work-up. The paid unrelated donors compared with related donors were younger (34.2 ± 7.2 vs. 40.7 ± 9.7 years, p < 0.001), had shorter time since donation (2.9 ± 1.6 vs. 3.8 ± 2 years, p = 0.004), had higher estimated GFR (72.6 ± 22 vs. 63.8 ± 15.3 mL/min/1.73 m(2), p = 0.006) and had a higher percentage of patients with microalbuminuria (35% vs. 0%, p < 0.001). Additionally, general health and social functioning scores among paid unrelated donors were significantly lower (p < 0.001 and p = 0.02, respectively) than related donors. Other SF-36 scores, although lower in paid unrelated donors, did not reach statistical significance. Iranian paid unrelated donors have lower QOL and higher incidence of microalbuminuria compared with related donors.

En-bloc Transplantation: an Eligible Technique for Unilateral Dual Kidney Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation is the best available treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the en bloc anastomosis technique for unilateral dual kidney transplantation (DKT). METHODS: From May to October 2011, 5 patients (4 women and 1 man) with mean age of 31.8 years underwent unilateral DKT with this technique in which distal end of the aorta and proximal end of inferior vena cava (IVC) were closed with running sutures. Then, proximal end of the aorta and distal end of the IVC were anastomosed to internal (or external) iliac artery and external iliac vein, respectively. RESULTS: Post-operative course was uneventful. No vascular and urologic complications developed; all patient had acceptable serum creatinine at discharge time and up of 2-6 months of post-operation follow up. CONCLUSION: Unilateral DKT is a safe method for performing DKT. The proposed en bloc anastomosis can improve the outcome of the graft by reducing the cold ischemia and the operation time.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis in a transplant kidney.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) is a severe necrotizing infection of the kidney and its surrounding tissues. It is characterized by the production of gas within the kidney and perinephric structures. EPN often affects diabetic women but can also occur in nondiabetic patients who have ureteral obstruction and in immunocompromised patients. Herein, we report EPN in a 23-year-old woman who had a renal transplantation.

The effect of simvastatin on lowering panel reactive antibody titer in sensitized dialysis patients: a randomized placebo controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with panel reactive antibodies (PRA) have many difficulties to find a crossmatch-negative kidney for transplantation and are at a higher risk of post-transplantation rejection. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of simvastatin on PRA and post-transplant outcome of these sensitized patients. METHODS: 82 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) with a PRA ≥25% were evaluated. In a one-year follow-up, the patients were treated with simvastatin. These patients were compared with 82 matched controls receiving placebo tablets. At the end of the second and 12(th) month, PRA was rechecked in all patients. Those patients who underwent transplantation continued to take simvastatin six months after transplantation. Serum creatinine levels were checked at monthly intervals post-operation. RESULTS: The mean±SD PRA level at the end of the second month was 36.63%±31.14% and 45.34%±24.36% in cases and controls, respectively (P=0.012). Seven patients in the case group and 10 in the control group were lost to follow-up. The remaining patients continued to take simvastatin for 12 month. The mean±SD PRA level at the end of the 12(th) month was 24.02%±31.04% in cases and 43.15%±26.56% in controls (P=0.001). 25 patients underwent renal transplantation and continued to receive simvastatin 6 months after transplantation. These patients were matched with 25 controls treating with placebo. The mean±SD creatinine level 6 months after kidney transplantation was 2.05±1.14 mg/dL and 3.15±1.09 mg/dL in cases and controls consecutively (P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Simvastatin can be safely used to lower PRA and improve post-transplantation outcomes.

Successful replantation of amputated penile shaft following industrial injury.

Penile amputation is an uncommon urological emergency. Although rare, traumatic amputation of penis is a challenging injury to treat. However, modern microsurgical reconstruction techniques have improved success rate of penile replantation and become the procedure of choice for managing these patients. Herein, we report on a case of penile amputation following an industrial accident.

Transperitoneal laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy: 2 years' experience.

BACKGROUND: Due to the shortage of organ donations and the rising number of patients with terminal renal insufficiency, living donor kidney donation has become increasingly important during recent years. Hand-assisted laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy (LLDN) is an alternative to the conventional open approach and may decrease the surgical trauma to the donor. The aim of this study was to report our experience with this technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed demographic data, operative duration, hospital stay, and postoperative complications among 100 LLDNs performed from August 2006 to July 2008. We also performed a retrospective analysis of chemical and biochemical data of recipients. RESULTS: Thirty female and 70 male subjects of mean age of 35.88 +/- 12.21 years were operated on during this period. The mean operative time for donor nephrectomy was 138.30 +/- 31.92 minutes (range 60-205) and for recipients, 87.66 +/- 11.79 minutes (range = 75-120), with a mean warm ischemia time of 5.19 +/- 1.76 minutes (range = 2-8). The donors' mean hospital stay was 28.34 +/- 8.31 hours (range = 24-72). Five donor operations were converted to open nephrectomy because of uncontrolled bleeding or abnormal anatomy. There was no need for blood transfusions or reoperations in the donors. Mean hospital stay for the recipients was 9.44 +/- 3.61 days (range = 5-22). Creatinine and blood urea nitrogen decreased from preoperative values of 10.46 +/- 3.73 and 66.10 +/- 25.16 to 1.39 +/- 0.38 and 29.64 +/- 8.83 mg/dL at discharge. The renal graft was rejected in two cases due to immunologic causes without any response to therapy. There was no vascular thrombosis in the transplanted kidneys. CONCLUSION: LLDN is a viable alternative to the standard open nephrectomy. It may have a positive impact on the donor pool by minimizing disincentives to living donation. The results of our program were acceptable; this approach may be the procedure of choice in the future in our center.

The risk factors and laboratory diagnostics for post renal transplant tuberculosis: a case-control, country-wide study on definitive cases.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in renal transplant recipients and, because of its infrequency and the lack of medical awareness, it is usually misdiagnosed. This study was carried out to determine frequency and weight of multiple risk factors for post kidney transplantation TB. METHODS: A total of 44 cases (0.3%), out of 12,820 patients from 12 major kidney transplantation centers in Iran from 1984 to 2003, were compared with 184 healthy transplant subjects who were transplanted by the same surgical team. RESULTS: The mean age of cases and controls was 37.7 (13-63) and 35.6 (8-67) years (P=0.3), respectively. The mean duration of pre-transplantation hemodialysis was 30.3 (3-168) months in cases and 18.2 (1-180) months in controls (P=0.03). A positive past history of TB was detected in 2 cases and 1 control (P=0.3). The mean doses of initial and maintenance immunosuppressive drugs in cases and controls were not significantly different. A total of 25 cases (56.8%) and 60 controls (32.6%) had rejection before diagnosis of TB (P=0.004; OR=2.7, CI(95%): 1.3-5.6). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrated an increase in the risk of post-transplant TB by increasing the duration of pre-transplant hemodialysis and the number of post-transplant rejection episodes as 2 immunocompromised states. Further study is needed to clarify our new findings, specifically in relation to different immunosuppressive regimens.

Are large nonfunctional kidneys risk factors for posttransplantation urinary tract infection in patients with end-stage renal disease due to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease?

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of bilateral nephrectomy on posttransplantation urinary tract infection (UTI) among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). METHODS: In a retrospective case-control design, 62 patients with ESRD with ADPKD were divided into 2 groups: (A) 24 patients who underwent bilateral nephrectomies, and (B) 38 patients in whom bilateral nephrectomies had not been done. Pretransplantation and posttransplantation urine cultures were evaluated for UTI. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients with ESRD with ADPKD were enrolled in this study. The average age was 42 years (range, 6-60 years). Forty patients (64.5%) were male and 22 (35.5%) were female. The mean duration of hemodialysis was 24 months (range, 2-120 months), which was the same for both groups. Bilateral nephrectomies were done for 24 participants (38.7%). There were 38 patients (61.3%) in group B who did not have the operation. UTI occurred in 23 patients (37.1%): 6 patients (25%) in group A and 17 patients (44.7%) in group B. The incidence of UTI was not statistically different between the 2 groups (P>.05). Furthermore, no relationship was found between age, gender, blood group, and UTI in patients with ADPKD (P>.05). CONCLUSION: According to our study, the presence of large nonfunctional kidneys is not a risk factor for posttransplantation UTI in patients with ADPKD and ESRD.

The effect of clamping of inferior vena cava and portal vein on urine output during liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative hypotension, massive transfusion, liver disease, coexistent renal dysfunction, and decreased glomerular filtration rate during the anhepatic phase are major hazards for kidney function. We undertook this study to determine the change in urine output during clamping. METHOD: Twenty-four patients without preexistent renal disease, who were undergoing liver transplantation using the piggyback method, were enrolled in this study. Patients with a serum creatinine level >1.2 mg/dL were excluded. Urine output was monitored over 30 minutes before inferior vena cava and portal vein clamping, during clamping, and for 30 minutes after declamping. None of the patients had a clamping time >70 minutes. Our goal was to maintain mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate just by fluid administration diuretics were avoided. RESULTS: Participants had a mean age of 39.12 +/- 13.52 years (range, 15-67 years) with a male to female ratio of 1:4. Urine output 30 minutes before clamping was 3.64 +/- 3.58 (range, 1.25-15.18) mL/kg/h, decreased to 1.28 +/- 2.58 (range, 0-11.39) mL/kg/h during clamping (P=.00), and increased to 3.56 +/- 3.64 (range, 0.51-15.18) mL/kg/h 30 minutes after declamping (P=.00). CONCLUSION: Urine output was significantly reduced in all patients after clamping of the IVC and portal veins. This observation may be explained by increased venous pressure leading to decreased renal perfusion pressure. It has been stated that one of the advantages of veno-veno bypass (VVB) is increased renal perfusion pressure. However, if the clamping time in the piggyback method is <70 minutes and patients have normal preoperative renal function, the decreased renal perfusion pressure will not cause postoperative kidney dysfunction.

Long-term results of renal transplantation: A single-center analysis of 1200 transplants.

The present study is a report of long-term results of the first 1200 operations from December 1988 to December 2003. Graft and patient survival rates in eligible cases were computed with Kaplan-Meier analysis. Recipients were 808 men, 392 women of mean age 33.6 +/- 12.5 years. Eighty six percent of cases used organs from living donors (40% related, 41% unrelated, and 5% spouses) and 14% from cadaveric source. The most common causes of end-stage renal disease were chronic glomerulonephritis (18.2%); reflux nephropathy (13.4%); and diabetic nephropathy (10.1%). Among 215 (17.9%) patients, 156 patients (13%) died in the posttransplant period. Most common causes of death were cardiovascular (28.3%), graft loss (20.7%), and infections (19.6%). The 1- and 3-year patient survival rates were 94% and 91.5%, and graft survival rates were 88% and 84%. Although the success rate of operations was not satisfactory at the beginning, the current data reflect a >90% survival rate comparable to the major centers in the world.

Preliminary report of a nationwide case-control study for identifying risk factors of tuberculosis following renal transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is an important infection encountered posttransplantation, especially among patients in developing countries, where there are high incidences of morbidity and mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty subjects (1%) from 15 major kidney transplantation centers in Iran from 1984 to 2003 were compared with 440 controls who were matched for operative time, treatment center, and surgical team. RESULTS: Mean ages of research subjects and controls were 38.6 and 36.6 years (P = .04), respectively. The mean duration of pretransplantation hemodialysis was 29 months (range, 2 to 192 months) in research subjects and 20 months (range, 1 to 180 months) in controls (P = .003). Positive past history of tuberculosis was detected in 4 (3.3%) research subjects and in 7 (1.5%) controls (P = .2). Fifty-two research subjects (43.3%) and 241 controls (54.8%) had pretransplantation purified protein derivative of tuberculin less than 5 mm (P = .02). Mean dosages of initial and maintenance immunosuppressive drugs in research subjects and in controls were not significantly different. Sixty research subjects (50%) and 152 controls (34.5%) had rejection prior to diagnosis of TB (P = .03). CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates an increased risk of posttransplant TB by prolonged duration of pretransplant hemodialysis and number of posttransplant rejection episodes. Further study is needed to clarify these findings specifically with respect to various immunosuppressive regimens.

Outcome of hepatitis B and C virus infection on graft function after renal transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic liver disease resulting from hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections is still a major concern in kidney recipients. It is unclear whether HCV antibody status and markers of HBV infection are associated with renal dysfunction. Thus, we designed a study to investigate the incidence of HBV and HCV infection after renal transplantation and whether these infections alter graft function. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients who underwent renal transplantation participated in the study. Serum creatinine and aminotransferase levels were measured with standard automated analyzers. Anti-HCV antibodies were detected with an enzyme immunoassay, and a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique was used to test for HCV-RNA. Serological markers for HBV (HBsAg and anti-HBc antibody) were detected by enzyme immunoassay. All samples from patients who were seropositive for HBsAg or anti-HBc antibody were PCR-tested for HBV-DNA. A serum sample collected from living donors was tested for anti-HCV antibodies and serological markers for HBV. Serum creatinine and aminotransferase levels were also measured in living donors. RESULTS: Anti-HCV was not detected in serum samples of any cases before transplantation. However, 10 (17.2%) tested positive after transplantation. HCV-RNA was detected in 2 of the 10 patients (3.4% of all patients). None of the pretransplantation serum samples tested positive for HBsAg. However, anti-HBc antibody was identified in 8 (13.8%) of the 58 patients.. No HBV DNA was detected in serum samples of the patients with anti-HBc or HBsAg-positive. HBsAg was only detected in 1 (1.7%) recipient after transplantation. None of the 58 patients showed clinical signs or symptoms of renal dysfunction during the study period. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that, neither HBV nor HCV infection appears to cause or contribute to renal dysfunction in the early period (1 year) after renal transplantation. Nevertheless, a long-term consequence of chronic HBV or HCV liver disease or graft loss is not impossible in renal transplant recipients.