Correction: Bolocan et al. Convolutional Neural Network Model for Segmentation and Classification of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Based on Multiphase CT Images. J. Imaging 2023, 9, 280.

In the original publication [...].

Convolutional Neural Network Model for Segmentation and Classification of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Based on Multiphase CT Images.

(1) Background: Computed tomography (CT) imaging challenges in diagnosing renal cell carcinoma (RCC) include distinguishing malignant from benign tissues and determining the likely subtype. The goal is to show the algorithm's ability to improve renal cell carcinoma identification and treatment, improving patient outcomes. (2) Methods: This study uses the European Deep-Health toolkit's Convolutional Neural Network with ECVL, (European Computer Vision Library), and EDDL, (European Distributed Deep Learning Library). Image segmentation utilized U-net architecture and classification with resnet101. The model's clinical efficiency was assessed utilizing kidney, tumor, Dice score, and renal cell carcinoma categorization quality. (3) Results: The raw dataset contains 457 healthy right kidneys, 456 healthy left kidneys, 76 pathological right kidneys, and 84 pathological left kidneys. Preparing raw data for analysis was crucial to algorithm implementation. Kidney segmentation performance was 0.84, and tumor segmentation mean Dice score was 0.675 for the suggested model. Renal cell carcinoma classification was 0.885 accurate. (4) Conclusion and key findings: The present study focused on analyzing data from both healthy patients and diseased renal patients, with a particular emphasis on data processing. The method achieved a kidney segmentation accuracy of 0.84 and mean Dice scores of 0.675 for tumor segmentation. The system performed well in classifying renal cell carcinoma, achieving an accuracy of 0.885, results which indicates that the technique has the potential to improve the diagnosis of kidney pathology.

Can we identify the risk factors for SIRS/sepsis after percutaneous nephrolithotomy? A meta­analysis and literature review.

With the increase in percutaneous interventions such as percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for renal lithiasis, infectious complications are becoming more frequent. The present study performed a systematic Medline and Embase databases search, using the following words: 'PCNL' [MeSH Terms] AND ['sepsis' (All Fields) OR 'PCNL' (All Fields)] AND ['septic shock' (All Fields)] AND ['urosepsis' (MeSH Terms) OR 'Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)' (All Fields)]. Because of the technological advances in endourology, articles published between 2012 and 2022 were searched. Of the 1,403 results of the search, only 18 articles, representing 7,507 patients in which PCNL was performed, met the criteria to be included in the analysis. All authors applied antibiotic prophylaxis to all patients and, in some cases, the infection was treated preoperatively in those with positive urine cultures. According to the analysis of the present study, the operative time has been significantly longer in patients who developed SIRS/sepsis post-operatively (P=0.0001) with the highest heterogeneity (I2=91%) compared with other factors. Patients with a positive preoperative urine culture had a significantly higher risk of developing SIRS/sepsis following PCNL (P=0.00001), OD=2.92 (1.82, 4.68) and there was also a high degree of heterogeneity (I2=80%). Performing a multi-tract PCNL also increased the incidence of postoperative SIRS/sepsis (P=0.00001), OD=2.64 (1.78, 3.93) and the heterogeneity was a little smaller (I2=67%). Diabetes mellitus (P=0.004), OD=1.50 (1.14, 1.98), I2=27% and preoperative pyuria (P=0.002), OD=1.75 (1.23, 2.49), I2=20%, were other factors that significantly influenced postoperative evolution. A total of two factors analyzed, body mass index and patient's age, did not influence the outcome, P=0.45, I2=58% and P=0.98, I2=63%.

Urinary tract infections in complicated kidney stones: Can they be correlated with Guy's stone score?

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the existence of a connection between Guy's stone score and infectious complications after percutaneous nephrolitholapaxy. METHODS: The retrospective cohort, multi-centre study was conducted in the urology departments of Prof Dr Theodor Burghele Clinical Hospital and C.I. Parhon Clinical Hospital, Romania, and included data of patients who underwent percutaneous nephrolitholapaxy from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2019. Based on urography, the subjects were assigned to four groups, from GSS1 to GSS4, in accordance with the Guy's stone score classification. The complication rate after percutaneous nephrolitholapaxy was classified using the modified Clavien staging classification. Demographics, preoperative urine cultures, and the rate of complications were compared. Data was analysed using SPSS 24. RESULTS: Of the 246 patients, 116(47.2%) were males and 130(52.8%) were females. The overall mean age was 53.06±13.04 years (range: 18-83). The mean Guy's stone score was 1.82±0.9. The rate of percutaneous nephrolitholapaxy success was 160(65.04%). There were 105(42.68%) patients in GSS1 group, 63(25.60%) in GSS2, 24(9.75%) in GSS3 and 54(21.95%) in GSS4. There were significantly more preoperative positive urine culture in GSS3 and GSS4 groups compared to GSS1 and GSS2 groups (p<0.05). The rates of complications were statistically different among the groups (p=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Urinary tract infections were found more frequently in patients with higher Guy's stone scores compared to those with low scores. The Guy's stone score classification were found to be a useful tool in predicting the immediate success rate of percutaneous nephrolitholapaxy.

Determining whether previous SWL for ureteric stones influences the results of ureteroscopy as the second-line treatment: A clinical study.

The purpose of the study was to establish whether shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) is a potential harmful first-line treatment for ureteric stones where ureteroscopy (URS) is necessary as a second-line treatment. Medical records of patients with ureteric stones who underwent either URS as the only therapy applied or SWL followed by URS over two years were retrospectively evaluated. In total, 158 patients were included: 79 patients in Group A (no SWL) and 79 in Group B (prior SWL before URS). There was no difference in major complications, Group A had higher stone-free rates, Group B had higher rates of ureteral edema and similar intraoperative ureteral lesions. In conclusion, the failure of SWL for lumbar or pelvic ureteral lithiasis does not appear to have a negative effect on the rate of intraoperative complications or the success rate of semi-rigid retrograde URS for this category of calculi, with the same safety profile as first-line endourological intervention.

Preoperative C-reactive protein is related with renal cell tumor dimension? Preliminary results.

INTRODUCTION: Renal tumors do not benefit from an unanimously accepted tumor marker. We tried to evaluate the advantages of preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) values and monitor the dynamic of CRP values from the perspective of the evolution of patients diagnosed with Grawitz tumors. PATIENTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: We researched the medical records of patients with renal parenchymal tumors admitted to the Urological Clinic in Iasi, Romania, between 01.01.2018 and 01.08.2022. Data were collected regarding age, environment, comorbidities, paraclinical data, tumor characteristics, and treatment performed. Ninety-six patients were included. The data on the inflammatory syndrome pre- and postoperatively were evaluated comparatively. All patients were diagnosed with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). RESULTS: We found that the renal tumor dimension correlates with an increased preoperative CRP level. For other variables, the correlations regarding age, sex, tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) stage, and size in relation to the increase or decrease of CRP had no statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of preoperative CRP and CRP dynamics could predict the tumor's aggressiveness and the treatment's effectiveness. A clear association between CRP levels and RCC pathogenesis is not yet defined, thus, further studies are necessary.

Evolution of Electrocardiographic Repolarization Parameters During Antiandrogen Therapy in Patients with Prostate Cancer and Hypogonadism.

We assessed the effects of antiandrogen therapy on ECG parameters of ventricular repolarization related to arrhythmic risk in 35 patients aged 70.3 ± 7 years with advanced prostate cancer treated with degarelix associated with enzalutamide (group A, 26 patients) or degarelix monotherapy (group B, 9 patients). We analyzed Fridericia corrected Q-T interval (QTc), Q-T dispersion (QTd), J-Tpeak interval (JTp), mean and maximum Tpeak-Tend interval (Tpe) and Tpe/QT ratio, Tpeak-Tend dispersion (Tped), index of cardio-electrophysiological balance (iCEB) from ECG tracings, and occurrence of ventricular premature beats (VPB) recorded by Holter ECG, before initiation of medication (M0) and after 6 months of treatment (M1). The groups had similar demographics except for a higher prevalence of prior myocardial infarction in group B (p = 0.01). All patients had low serum testosterone at M1. Baseline QTc, QTd, maxTpe/QT, meanTpe, maxTpe, Tped values were higher in B compared to A. They had a significant prolongation at M1 only in A. 20 patients in A and 6 in B had a 10% prolongation or decrease of iCEB (p = 0.66). In 5 patients, VPB severity increased from non-complex to complex: 3 in A and 2 in B (p = 0.31), but no sustained ventricular arrhythmia was registered. In conclusion, after 6 months of treatment, patients with hypogonadism on degarelix associated with enzalutamide had significant prolongation of QTc, QTd, maxTpe, meanTpe/QT, maxTpe/QT, Tped compared to patients on degarelix alone. The proportion of patients with 10% iCEB variation was similar between groups. There was no record of severe arrhythmias during the first 6 months of treatment.

Correlations between stones composition, dietary and comorbidities context of the lithiasic patient.

The incidence of nephrolithiasis is in full expansion, its etiology being frequently associated with lifestyle changes. The objective of this retrospective study, carried out between April and December 2019, was to identify the correlations of the known lithogenic factors with the chemical structure of the calculi in the patients from the North-Eastern region of Romania. The results obtained after the data analysis of our LAMPA questionnaire (L - liquids, A - antecedents, M - medication, P - associated pathologies, A - aliments) made in evidence a statistically relevant relationship between the heredocollateral history of lithiasis and calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) calculi, hypertension and calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones, uric lithiasis and diabetes, COD, and obesity, between predominantly uric lithiasis and meat or meat-derived products consumption, between frequent potato consumption and COD stones and the frequently consume of dairy products and predominantly COM calculi. The authors concluded that the use of a complex questionnaire, like LAMPA, together with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic and morphological analysis are essential steps for developing an efficient metaphylaxis.

Randomized Phase II Study Evaluating Akt Blockade with Ipatasertib, in Combination with Abiraterone, in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer with and without PTEN Loss.

PURPOSE: PI3K-Akt-mTOR and androgen receptor (AR) signaling are commonly aberrantly activated in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), with PTEN loss associating with poor prognosis. We therefore conducted a phase Ib/II study of the combination of ipatasertib, an Akt inhibitor, with the CYP17 inhibitor abiraterone in patients with mCRPC.Patients and Methods: Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to ipatasertib 400 mg, ipatasertib 200 mg, or placebo, with abiraterone 1,000 mg orally. Coprimary efficacy endpoints were radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) in the intent-to-treat population and in patients with PTEN-loss tumors. RESULTS: rPFS was prolonged in the ipatasertib cohort versus placebo, with similar trends in overall survival and time-to-PSA progression. A larger rPFS prolongation for the combination was demonstrated in PTEN-loss tumors versus those without. The combination was well tolerated, with no treatment-related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: In mCRPC, combined blockade with abiraterone and ipatasertib showed superior antitumor activity to abiraterone alone, especially in patients with PTEN-loss tumors.See related commentary by Zhang et al., p. 901.

Infected hydronephrosis: can we reduce patient suffering and costs?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation among clinical parameters, risk factors, outcomes and costs in the context of patients with infected hydronephrosis. METHODS: This retrospective, multi-centric study was conducted in three Romanian academic urology departments, and comprised data of patients with infected hydronephrosis treated between July 2013 and July 2014. Based on per-patient hospitalisation costs, the participants were divided into three groups: group A: cost less than 500 euros), group B: between 500 and 1,000 euros, and group C: over 1,000 euros). Differences between clinical parameters, comorbidities, type of procedure, admission to intensive care unit, length of hospital stay and costs were analysed. RESULTS: Of the 175 patients, 49(28%) were in group A, 95(54.3%) in group B and 31(17.7%) in group C. The relevant parameters influencing outcomes and costs were age (p=0.001), neoplasical aetiology (p=0.001), leukocytosis (p=0.001), renal insufficiency (p=0.001), and moment of the intervention (p=0.005). Diabetes did not influence the costs (p=0.36). JJ stent insertion was tolerated at least the same as percutaneous nephrostomy, and with the same efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: In order to avoid patient suffering and to reduce costs linked to the treatment of infected hydronephrosis, the patient-general practitioner-specialist collaboration is of the utmost importance. Symptoms, signs, paraclinical features and empirical use of antibiotics may all lead to a delay in proper management, thus making the hospitalisation longer and the costs significantly higher.

A comprehensive analysis of genome-wide association studies to identify prostate cancer susceptibility loci for the Romanian population.

The aim of this study is to examine a large dataset of single nucleotide polymorphism known to be associated with prostate cancer from previous genome-wide association studies and create a dataset of single nucleotide polymorphisms that can be used in replication studies for the Romanian population. This study will define a list of markers showing a significant association with this phenotype. We propose the results of this study as a starting point for any Romanian genome-wide association studies researching the genetic susceptibility for prostate cancer.