Urethroplasty Practice Patterns of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons.

INTRODUCTION: To our knowledge there are no studies evaluating urethroplasty practice patterns among genitourinary reconstructive surgeons. METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to members of the Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons. Respondents were queried regarding approach to bulbar urethral reconstruction in 6 index cases. RESULTS: A total of 91 society members who regularly treated men with urethral strictures responded to the survey. For a 1.5 cm stricture excision and primary anastomosis was the preferred treatment, although less unanimously than expected (only 83% in older men and 67% in younger men). For 2.5 cm strictures urethroplasty with buccal mucosal graft was the preferred treatment for a 35-year-old man, and excision and primary anastomosis for a 65-year-old man. Excision and primary anastomosis was preferred less frequently in younger patients and in patients with longer strictures (Cochran Q test, p <0.001). No other variables were independently associated with use of excision and primary anastomosis, but there were trends toward increased use of excision and primary anastomosis in higher volume surgeons and surgeons who trained fellows. Of the respondents 90% harvest their own buccal grafts, with 46% leaving harvest sites open and 36% closing them. Of the respondents 48% use stricture location to determine graft placement, while 33% use dorsal onlay and 19% use ventral onlay when substitution urethroplasty is chosen. CONCLUSIONS: Urethroplasty consisting of excision and primary anastomosis is performed less commonly than expected among genitourinary reconstructive surgeons. Considerable variation exists regarding operative technique, management of buccal mucosal graft harvest site and substitution onlay site.

Short-term Complication Rates Following Anterior Urethroplasty: An Analysis of National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Data.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics and predictors of perioperative complications after male anterior urethroplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program is a validated outcomes-based program comprising academic and community hospitals in the United States and Canada. Data from 2007 to 2015 were queried for single-stage anterior urethroplasty using Current Procedure Terminology codes. The primary outcome was frequency of complications within the 30-day postoperative period. Preoperative and intraoperative parameters were correlated with morbidity measures, and univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used. RESULTS: A total of 555 patients underwent anterior urethroplasty, of whom 180 (32.4%) had graft or flap placement. Of the patients, 127 (22.9%) went home the same day after surgery, 255 (45.9%) stayed for 1 night, and 173 (31.2%) stayed for 2 or more nights. No deaths, cardiovascular complications, or sepsis were noted. Forty-seven patients (8.5%) had complications in the 30-day period. The most common complications were infection (57.4%), readmission (42.9%), and return to the operating room (17%). On univariate analysis, patients who had substitution urethroplasty (P = .04) and longer operative times (P = .002) were more likely to have complications, but only longer operative time showed significance on multivariate analysis (P = .006). Age, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, and length of stay were not predictive of complication frequency. CONCLUSION: Anterior urethroplasty has low postoperative morbidity. Longer operative times were associated with increased rate of complications. Longer hospital stay after surgery is not protective against perioperative complications.

Secondary Urethral Malignancies Following Prostate Brachytherapy.

OBJECTIVE: To understand urethral secondary malignancies among patients treated with brachytherapy (BRT) for primary prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Institutional retrospective review identified 13 patients evaluated from 2003 to 2014 with urethral cancer and history of BRT monotherapy for prostate cancer. All patients were biochemically free of their primary disease and radiation-associated secondary malignancies (RASMs) were confirmed pathologically to be histologically distinct from primary tumor. BRT characteristics, patient age, presentation, staging workup, and clinical course were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean time from BRT to presenting symptoms of hematuria, urinary retention, and/or renal failure was 71 months. Symptom onset to RASM diagnosis interval was 24 months. Mean time from BRT to RASM diagnosis was 95 months. Eighty-five percent of patients had an undetectable prostate-specific antigen level (<0.2 ng/mL) at last follow-up. Types of RASM included sarcomatoid carcinoma (6), small cell carcinoma (2), urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation (2), squamous cell carcinoma (1), rhabdomyosarcoma (1), and urothelial carcinoma (1). A majority of patients were diagnosed with advanced disease with either distant metastases (54%) or local progression (23%). Ten patients died during this study period with median time to death after RASM diagnosis of 6 months. CONCLUSION: RASMs localized to the posterior urethra displayed advanced disease and high mortality rates. Refractory lower urinary tract symptoms, hematuria, and history of prostate BRT should raise suspicion for urethral RASMs. Further studies are warranted to determine patient and disease characteristics that correlate with disease-specific mortality of secondary urethral malignancies.

Risk Factors for Removal or Revision of Penile Prostheses in the Veteran Population.

OBJECTIVE: To identify comorbid conditions that may increase the likelihood of revision surgery after primary penile prosthesis implantation. To evaluate trends in utilization of prostheses and selection of device within the Veterans Affairs (VA) system. METHODS: A retrospective review of the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure database was performed using Current Procedural Technology codes to identify any Veteran who underwent penile prosthesis surgery between January 2000 and December 2013. Age, race, procedure type, and relevant comorbidities were identified and compared between groups. RESULTS: A total of 6586 patients underwent primary penile prosthesis placement with at least 1 year of follow-up. Peripheral vascular disease (P <.001), smoking (P <.001), hypertension (P = .012), and history of prostate cancer (P = .043) were each associated with a significant increased risk of revision or removal surgery. There was an increase in overall number of implants placed during the study and increased durability with malleable penile prosthesis (MPP), but there was a downward trend in the number of MPP placed relative to inflatable penile prosthesis (P <.001). MPP were more likely to be placed with increasing age (P <.05) and there was a trend toward increased MPP placement in African Americans compared with Caucasians (P = .06). CONCLUSION: Peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, smoking, and history of prostate cancer are associated with increased risk for secondary surgery. This raises a provocative question of how vascular insufficiency may play a role in the likelihood of secondary surgery after penile prosthesis placement. Utilization of penile prosthesis placement in the VA system is steadily increasing, most notably with increased numbers of inflatable penile prosthesis placement.

Management of Vesicoureteral Reflux by Endoscopic Injection of Dextranomer/Hyaluronic Acid in Adults.

A 74-year-old man presented for evaluation after discovery of a left bladder-wall tumor. He underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) operation for treatment of low-grade, Ta urothelial cancer of the bladder. The patient developed recurrent disease and returned to the operating room for repeat TURBT, circumcision, and administration of intravesical mitomycin C. The patient developed balanitis xerotica obliterans 4 years post-circumcision, requiring self-dilation with a catheter. He subsequently developed 3 consecutive episodes of left-sided pyelonephritis. Further investigation with voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) revealed Grade 3, left-sided vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). Due to existing comorbidities, the patient elected treatment with endoscopic dextranomer/hyaluronic acid injection. A post-operative VCUG demonstrated complete resolution of left-sided VUR. This patient has remained symptom free for 8 months post-injection, with no episodes of pyelonephritis.

Salvage Brachytherapy for Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer following Primary Brachytherapy.

Purpose. In this study, we evaluated our experience with salvage brachytherapy after discovery of biochemical recurrence after a prior brachytherapy procedure. Methods and Materials. From 2001 through 2012 twenty-one patients treated by brachytherapy within University of Kentucky or from outside centers developed biochemical failure and had no evidence of metastases. Computed tomography (CT) scans were evaluated; patients who had an underseeded portion of their prostate were considered for reimplantation. Results. The majority of the patients in this study (61.9%) were low risk and median presalvage PSA was 3.49 (range 17.41-1.68). Mean follow-up was 61 months. At last follow-up after reseeding, 11/21 (52.4%) were free of biochemical recurrence. There was a trend towards decreased freedom from biochemical recurrence in low risk patients (p = 0.12). International Prostate Symptom Scores (IPSS) increased at 3-month follow-up visits but decreased and were equivalent to baseline scores at 18 months. Conclusions. Salvage brachytherapy after primary brachytherapy is possible; however, in our experience the side-effect profile after the second brachytherapy procedure was higher than after the first brachytherapy procedure. In this cohort of patients we demonstrate that approximately 50% oncologic control, low risk patients appear to have better outcomes than others.

Technical refinements to improve outcomes following distal hypospadias repair.

INTRODUCTION: Hypospadias complications, most notably meatal stenosis, are commonly reported to occur after tubularized incised plate (TIP) hypospadias repair. We focus on a point of technique in TIP repair and its effect on outcome of this possible complication, as well as other commonly reported complications. Meatal stenosis after TIP can be avoided if the urethra and overlying glans are dissected and sutured separately with no attempt at cross suturing whether the urethra ends below, behind, or above the glans sutures. This hypothesis was evaluated by a prospective data collection before and after implementation to evaluate the effect of a technical refinement on rates of meatal stenosis in TIP hypospadias repair. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All cases of coronal to midpenile hypospadias repair during two periods were included in our study. Group 1 included 140 consecutive patients over a 30 month period. Group 2 included 122 consecutive patients over a 36 month period during which the above mentioned technical changes were implemented by all participating pediatric urologists. Rates of complications between the two groups were compared with special emphasis on meatal stenosis. RESULTS: Median follow up for both groups was > 1 year. Overall complication rate in Group 1 was 31.5% compared to 9.8% in Group 2. Meatal stenosis was significantly reduced from 13 patients (9.3%) in Group 1 to 2 patients (1.6%) in Group 2, p = 0.008. CONCLUSION: The technical refinements described resulted in reduction of complication rates and a decrease in incidence of meatal stenosis.

Retropubic prostatectomy for giant benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Giant benign prostatic hyperplasia is a rare pathology of the prostate gland. Here we report the successful removal of the ninth largest prostate ever reported. This 65-year-old patient presented with acute urinary retention secondary to a bulky left prostatic mass identified on pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). His preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value was 44 ng/mL; preoperative biopsies were negative for malignancy. Open radical retropubic prostatectomy was performed and the resulting prostatic mass was measured at 13.5 cm x 11.5 cm x 5.2 cm, weighing 708 g including the prostate. The patient tolerated the procedure well. Surgical pathology showed no evidence of malignancy.

Trends in the management of male urethral stricture disease in the veteran population.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relative use of urethral dilation, urethrotomy, and urethroplasty for male stricture disease in the Veterans Affairs (VA) population and examine trends over time in this cohort. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed using the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure database to access the Corporate Data Warehouse. The current procedural terminology codes were used to define a cohort of all men who underwent procedures for urethral stricture disease between October 1999 and August 2013. RESULTS: A total of 92,448 procedures were performed: 50,875 urethral dilations (55.03%), 39,785 urethrotomies (43.03%), and 1788 urethroplasties (0.19%). Over the course of the study, there was a shift in the management of male stricture disease. The relative percentage of urethral dilations performed decreased in each quintile (71.27, 58.03, 45.61, 44.39, and 38.67). The relative percentage of urethrotomies increased in each quintile (27.89, 40.80, 52.18, 53.04, and 56.95) as did the relative percentage of urethroplasties performed (0.85, 1.17, 2.21, 2.57, and 4.38). A total of 80.4% of these urethroplasties were performed in locations with a residency program. CONCLUSION: Although urethroplasty is still underused, there is a trend toward increased use of urethroplasty for male urethral stricture disease in the VA population. The majority of urethroplasties were performed at VA medical centers in locations with a residency program. We predict continued increases in utilization of urethroplasty for male urethral stricture disease as the number of fellowship-trained reconstructive urologists increases.

A tale of two trials: The impact of 5α-reductase inhibition on prostate cancer (Review).

The use of 5α-reductase inhibitors (5α-RIs) as prostate cancer chemoprevention agents is controversial. Two large randomized trials, the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) and the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) Trial, have both shown a decreased incidence of prostate cancer in patients administered with 5α-RIs. Both studies showed, however, an increased risk of higher-grade prostate cancer. Numerous studies have since analyzed the inherent biases in these landmark studies and have used mathematical modeling to estimate the true incidence of prostate cancer and the risk for high-grade prostate cancer in patients undergoing 5α-RI treatment. All primary publications associated with the PCPT and REDUCE studies were reviewed in detail. Pertinent references from the above publications were assessed and a literature search of all published articles associated with PCPT, REDUCE or 5α-RIs as chemopreventative agents through October 2013 was performed using Pubmed/Medline. PCPT and REDUCE both showed a significant decrease in the incidence of prostate cancer following the administration of 5α-reductase inhibitor, as compared with placebo, suggesting that 5α-RIs may be effective agents for prostate cancer chemoprevention. Inherent biases in the design of these two studies may have caused an artificial increase in the number of high-grade cancers reported. Mathematical models, that integrated data from these trials, revealed neither an increased nor decreased risk of high-grade disease when taking these biases into consideration. Moderately strong evidence exists that 5α-RIs may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. PCPT and REDUCE showed a decreased prevalence of prostate cancer in patients taking 5α-RIs. Urologists should have a working knowledge of these studies and discuss with patients the risks and benefits of 5α-RI treatment. Further studies to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of chemoprevention with 5α-RIs and appropriate patient selection are warranted.

Distal hypospadias repair using only glans wing mobilization and approximation.

INTRODUCTION: Since its first description in 1994, tubularized incised plate (TIP) technique has become the most commonly performed hypospadias procedure and involves incision of the urethral plate with subsequent tubularization. Glans wings are then developed to cover the neourethra, thereby creating a cosmetically appealing repair. In some distal hypospadias cases, mobilization and approximation of glans wings is sufficient to create a normal appearing urethral meatus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review of all pediatric urology patients who underwent hypospadias repair by a single surgeon at the University of Kentucky between July 1, 2010 and April 1, 2013 was performed. Of the 46 patients who underwent one-stage distal hypospadias repair during that time, we performed the technique described above on 13 patients with amenable anatomy. Patients were evaluated for functional and cosmetic outcomes as well as complications at subsequent office visits and via telephone. RESULTS: Patients who underwent distal hypospadias repair with our technique had excellent functional and cosmetic outcomes analogous to those who underwent standard TIP repair. The only major complication in the study group was wound dehiscence in one patient that was required a second surgery. All other patients had excellent cosmetic and functional results without fistula formation, strictures or diverticuli, and with excellent parent satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived benefits of this technique include simplicity and rapidity of technique, applicability to glanular, coronal and subcoronal hypospadias, and avoidance of sutures between urethra and glans with potential decrease in meatal stenosis.

A 22-year-old female with invasive epithelioid angiomyolipoma and tumor thrombus into the inferior vena cava: case report and literature review.

A 22-year-old female presented with back pain and was discovered to have a right-sided abdominal mass. Computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a 9 cm enhancing right upper pole renal mass with suspicion for tumor thrombus into the right renal vein and possibly the inferior vena cava (IVC). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed tumor thrombus into the inferior vena cava approximately 3 cm below the hepatic venous confluence. Open right radical nephrectomy with inferior vena cava thrombectomy was performed with removal of right kidney and tumor thrombus en bloc. Pathology revealed malignant epithelioid angiomyolipoma (EAML or PEComa). Epithelioid angiomyolipoma is a rare tumor of mesenchymal tissue that has the potential for local invasion and disease progression. Diagnosis of EAML was confirmed by pathology and immunohistochemistry. She was referred to medical oncology for discussion of surveillance versus potential adjuvant therapy and ultimately opted for close surveillance.

Crossed testicular ectopia with preoperative ultrasound.

Crossed testicular ectopia/transverse testicular ectopia is a rare congenital anomaly. It is most commonly identified intraoperatively in the setting of inguinal hernia repair with contralateral cryptorchidism. We report a case of crossed testicular ectopia identified in a 3-month-old male who presented with right cryptorchidism. Preoperative ultrasound revealed no testicle on the right and two testicles on the left - one within the left hemiscrotum and one within the left inguinal canal. Laparoscopy at 7 months of age revealed a closed right external ring and right ectopic testicle at the left external ring. Bilateral orchiopexy was performed.

Pressure overload-induced alterations in fibrillar collagen content and myocardial diastolic function: role of secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) in post-synthetic procollagen processing.

BACKGROUND: Chronic pressure overload causes myocardial hypertrophy, increased fibrillar collagen content, and abnormal diastolic function. We hypothesized that one determinant of these pressure overload-induced changes is the extracellular processing of newly synthesized procollagen into mature collagen fibrils. We further hypothesized that secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) plays a key role in post-synthetic procollagen processing in normal and pressure-overloaded myocardium. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine whether pressure overload-induced changes in collagen content and diastolic function are affected by the absence of SPARC, age-matched wild-type (WT) and SPARC-null mice underwent either transverse aortic constriction (TAC) for 4 weeks or served as nonoperated controls. Left ventricular (LV) collagen content was measured histologically by collagen volume fraction, collagen composition was measured by hydroxyproline assay as soluble collagen (1 mol/L NaCl extractable) versus insoluble collagen (mature cross-linked collagen), and collagen morphological structure was examined by scanning electron microscopy. SPARC expression was measured by immunoblot. LV, myocardial, and cardiomyocyte structure and function were assessed by echocardiographic, papillary muscle, and isolated cardiomyocyte studies. In WT mice, TAC increased LV mass, SPARC expression, myocardial diastolic stiffness, fibrillar collagen content, and soluble and insoluble collagen. In SPARC-null mice, TAC increased LV mass to an extent similar to WT mice. In addition, in SPARC-null mice, TAC increased fibrillar collagen content, albeit significantly less than that seen in WT TAC mice. Furthermore, the proportion of LV collagen that was insoluble was less in the SPARC-null TAC mice (86+/-2%) than in WT TAC mice (99+/-2%, P<0.05), and the proportion of collagen that was soluble was greater in the SPARC-null TAC mice (14+/-2%) than in WT TAC mice (1+/-2%, P<0.05) As a result, myocardial diastolic stiffness was lower in SPARC-null TAC mice (0.075+/-0.005) than in WT TAC mice (0.045+/-0.005, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The absence of SPARC reduced pressure overload-induced alterations in extracellular matrix fibrillar collagen and diastolic function. These data support the hypothesis that SPARC plays a key role in post-synthetic procollagen processing and the development of mature cross-linked collagen fibrils in normal and pressure-overloaded myocardium.