RESUMO
Objectives: Patients with urolithiasis receive a significant amount of radiation during diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of their pathology, with nearly 20% receiving more than the annual recommended, creating a growing concern regarding radiation exposure faced by patients and health personnel. The objectives of the study were to describe a standardized fluoroscopy-free (FF) semirigid (SR) ureteroscopy (URS) technique for ureteral stone treatment and to determine the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of this technique for the treatment of ureteral stones comparing it to a historical cohort of fluoroscopy-guided (FG) SR-URS. Materials and Methods: A prospective single-arm study of patients submitted to FF SR-URS was conducted. Visual and tactile cues were employed to avoid the use of ionizing radiation. The success (feasibility), stone-free (efficacy), and complication (safety) rates of each procedure were registered. The results were compared to a historical cohort of patients that underwent FG SR-URS at our center. Results: One hundred and five patients subjected to FF SR-URS were included in the study and compared to a historical cohort of 87 patients subjected to FG SR-URS. The main characteristics were comparable among groups. Ninety-seven patients (92.38%) were completed without any use of ionizing radiation. The stone-free rate was 92.45%, similar to the historical cohort. Only Clavien I and II complications were found without statistical difference between the study groups. The average dose of radiation exposure for the historical cohort was approximately 0.5 mSv. Conclusions: FF SR-URS is a feasible, efficacious, and safe technique for treating the ureteral stones for urologists with good practice of the traditional technique. Implementing this procedure allows a decrease in radiation exposure to both patients and health personnel.
RESUMO
Se presenta el caso clínico de una paciente de 30 años, con diagnóstico de VIH + desde el año 2000, en terapia antirretroviral desde el año 2004. Desde el año 2007 con disnea de esfuerzo progresiva, que en el último año se hace severa, asociada a astenia, fatigabilidad y edema vespertino de extremidades inferiores. El ecocardiograma detecta un aumento de la presión de arteria pulmonar, lo que se confirma a través de un cateterismo cardíaco derecho. Se descarta tromboembolismo pulmonar y se concluye como una HAP secundaria a VIH. La hipertensión arterial pulmonar (HAP) es una enfermedad de baja frecuencia y se puede asociar a infección por virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH), presentando una prevalencia 6 a 12 veces mayor en relación a individuos sin infección por VIH. La HAP es independiente del recuento de linfocitos T CD4 y en su patogenia participan proteínas virales, como la glicoproteína 120 y las proteínas Nef y Tat, que estimulan una cascada inflamatoria sistémica, induciendo angiogénesis en los vasos pulmonares. El estudio hemodinámico a través de cateterismo derecho es el método de elección para la confirmación diagnóstica.
We report the case of a patient 30 years, diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since 2000, on antiretroviral therapy since 2004. Since 2007 with progressive dyspnea, which in the past year becomes severe, associated with asthenia, fatigue and edema of lower limbs evening. Echocardiography detects an increase in pulmonary artery pressure, which is confirmed by a right heart catheterization. Pulmonary embolism is ruled out and concludes as a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) secondary to HIV. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a disease of low frequency and can be associated with infection by HIV, with prevalence 6 to 12 times greater relative to individuals without HIV infection. PAH is independent of CD4 T lymphocyte count and viral proteins involved pathogenesis, such as glycoprotein 120 and Nef and Tat proteins, which stimulate a systemic inflammatory cascade, inducing angiogenesis in the pulmonary vessels. The hemodynamic study through right heart catheteri-zation is the method of choice for diagnostic confirmation.
