Modifications to Botulinum toxin A delivery in the management of detrusor overactivity recalcitrant to initial injections: a review.

PURPOSE: One quarter of patients will not respond to initial intra-detrusor Botulinum toxin A (BTX) injections for detrusor overactivity. Alternative treatment options include long-term catheterization, sacral neuromodulation, urinary diversion or bladder augmentation. Some of these procedures are invasive. This review explores modifications to BTX delivery that can improve outcome. METHODS: A search of Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library to December 2017 was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Metaanalysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Search criteria included, dose escalation, increasing injection site number, trigone injection, switching preparation and alternative methods of BTX delivery. RESULTS: Several modifications to BTX delivery may improve response. There is moderate evidence that increasing the dose from 100 U to 200 U results in statistically better symptom control. Trigone-including injections were associated with significantly improved patient-reported symptom scores, as well as superior results in urodynamic outcomes without risking urinary retention and vesico-ureteric reflux. Switching from onabotulinum (OTA) or abobotulinum (ATA) or vice versa may also improve response in over 50% of patients as shown in limited studies. Increasing the number of injection sites is not beneficial. Indeed, decreasing the number of injections to as low as three sites does not result in decreased clinical outcomes. Injection-free delivery is associated with lower efficacy compared to conventional intradetrusor injections. CONCLUSION: Before contemplating alternative treatments, practitioners can try to improve on BTX delivery. Firstly, the dose can be increased to 200 U; the trigone included in the injection sites and switching brands may also be helpful.

Gastric outlet obstruction with an elevated serum pancreatic lipase secondary to an infraumbilical hernia.

We report the case of a 68-year-old woman who presented with symptoms and signs of gastric outlet obstruction with a history of a ventral hernia. Clinical examination revealed a large ventral hernia with visible peristalsis of the herniated viscera. Initial serum biochemistry revealed a markedly elevated lipase level and deranged renal function. Computed tomography demonstrated an infraumbilical hernia with herniation of the stomach through the ventral defect and distortion of the pancreatic anatomy. The hernia was reduced operatively and repaired, leading to an uneventful recovery.

Post-traumatic pelvic extramedullary haemopoetic tissue causing lower urinary tract symptoms.

Extramedullary haemopoiesis (EMH) is the abnormal development and growth of haemopoietic tissue outside the bone marrow. It is usually asymptomatic and occurs in the presence of myelodysplastic syndromes. In this report, we describe the first post-traumatic EMH presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Erythroid HLA class I expression in 300 patients with haematological, renal and rheumatological disorders.

The expression of HLA class I was assessed on erythrocytes by haemagglutination with monoclonal antibodies to monomorphic epitopes on the heavy and light (beta 2-microglobulin) chains. Previously, enhancement of HLA class I expression was observed on erythrocytes of many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and chronic lymphatic leukaemia (CLL), and we have now tested erythrocytes from patients (and 130 normal controls) with other auto-immune diseases and renal and haematological disorders. The striking enhancement in patients with SLE and CLL was confirmed. A significant increase in expression was also observed in aplastic anaemia patients following bone marrow transplantation and in renal patients with primary glomerulonephritis who had received a transplant. No class I was expressed by erythrocytes from many patients with inherited haemoglobinopathies and high reticulocyte counts, which suggests that the enhancement in SLE patients cannot be accounted for by immature or young erythrocyte populations. The distribution of HLA-A and -B types in the patients with enhanced class I expression did not relate to those antigens previously detected more frequently on erythrocytes, B7(Bga), B17(Bgb), A28(Bgc), B8 or A10, and the enhancement was not associated with any particular HLA types.