Long-Term Application of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Does Not Improve Motor Learning in Parkinson's Disease.

Cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (c-tDCS) enhances motor skill acquisition and motor learning in young and old adults. Since the cerebellum is involved in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD), c-tDCS may represent an intervention with potential to improve motor learning in PD. The primary purpose was to determine the influence of long-term application of c-tDCS on motor learning in PD. The secondary purpose was to examine the influence of long-term application of c-tDCS on transfer of motor learning in PD. The study was a randomized, double-blind, SHAM-controlled, between-subjects design. Twenty-one participants with PD were allocated to either a tDCS group or a SHAM stimulation group. Participants completed 9 practice sessions over a 2-week period that involved extensive practice of an isometric pinch grip task (PGT) and a rapid arm movement task (AMT). These practice tasks were performed over a 25-min period concurrent with either anodal c-tDCS or SHAM stimulation. A set of transfer tasks that included clinical rating scales, manual dexterity tests, and lower extremity assessments were quantified in Test sessions at Baseline, 1, 14, and 28 days after the end of practice (EOP). There were no significant differences between the c-tDCS and SHAM groups as indicated by performance changes in the practice and transfer tasks from Baseline to the 3 EOP Tests. The findings indicate that long-term application of c-tDCS does not improve motor learning or transfer of motor learning to a greater extent than practice alone in PD.

Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Enhances Motor Learning in a Complex Overhand Throwing Task.

Cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (c-tDCS) enhances motor adaptation, skill acquisition, and learning in relatively simple motor tasks. The purpose was to examine the influence of c-tDCS on motor learning in a complex overhand throwing task. Forty-two young adults were randomized to a c-tDCS group or a SHAM group and completed a practice session and a retention session. The practice session involved an overhand throwing task to a small target (6 m away) in a pre-test block, 6 practice blocks, a post-test block, and a retention-test block (24 h later). c-tDCS or SHAM was applied during overhand throwing in the practice blocks. The decline in endpoint error was greater for the tDCS group compared to SHAM at the end of practice (P = 0.019) and at retention (P = 0.003). The findings indicate that a single application of c-tDCS enhances motor learning in a complex overhand throwing task.

Ureteral Stent Discomfort and Its Management.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Ureteral stent placement is a very common urologic procedure and a necessary component of many minimally invasive surgeries including ureteroscopy. Despite its widespread use, stent placement results in bothersome urinary symptoms and pain in approximately 80% of patients. This review discusses the proposed mechanisms underlying ureteral stent-related symptoms and current approaches to symptom management and the evidence to support them. RECENT FINDINGS: Though it has been extensively studied, the exact cause of stent-related symptoms remains unknown but is likely related to irritation of the bladder by the distal curl of the stent and reflux of urine through the stent up to the renal pelvis and transmission of high pressures associated with this. Recent research has focused on trying to modify stents including the creation of drug eluting stents as well as preventing symptoms with intravesical instillation of medications in the operative room at the time of placement. Some of these approaches show promise, but anticholinergic and alpha-blocking medications remain the only treatments for stent-related symptoms with reasonable evidence to support them. Current evidence suggests that a multimodal approach to stent-related symptoms and pain with alpha-blockers, anticholinergic medications, and anti-inflammatory and narcotic pain medications is likely the most effective. Further research is needed to better investigate many novel techniques for decreasing stent-related symptoms. This continues to be an important area of research given the need for ureteral stents in urology and the high prevalence of patient discomfort related to stent placement.

Does socioeconomic opportunity impact distal hypospadias surgical outcomes or post-operative care?

INTRODUCTION: Complications following hypospadias repair are common and several risk factors have been implicated such as penile biometrics and surgeon experience. Less well understood is that impact that social determinants of health have on hypospadias outcomes. OBJECTIVE: Anatomic and technical factors have been identified that contribute to complications; however, the impact that social determinants of health have on outcomes remains unclear. We hypothesized that the development of complications following distal hypospadias repair in children is negatively associated with the presence of resources and conditions necessary for development. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of children ≤18 years who underwent distal hypospadias repair from January 2016 to December 2022 was performed. Patients with <30 days follow-up were excluded from the primary analysis. The COI (Childhood Opportunity Index), calculated from residential address, was used as a measure of the resources and conditions present in a community necessary for healthy child development. The primary outcome was the presence of post-operative complications and the association of complications with COI. The secondary outcome was the association of COI and race with loss of follow-up (defined as no follow-up after 30 days post-operatively). Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association of complications with COI, insurance status, anatomic, and technical factors. RESULTS: 938 patients were identified, of which 166 were lost to follow-up. The overall complication rate was 14.1%. There was no significant difference in COI, insurance type, race, or primary language between patients with and without complications (p > 0.05). Glans width, degree of chordee, and repair type were associated with complications on univariate regression analysis (p < 0.01) and glans width and degree of chordee were significant on multivariate analysis (p < 0.01). COI was not significant on univariate or multivariate analysis. Lower COI, non-white race, and government insurance were associated with lack of follow-up (p < 0.01) (Summary figure). DISCUSSION: Socioeconomic opportunity is not an independent risk factor for complications after distal hypospadias repair; complications are impacted by anatomic factors and repair type. However, children with a lower COI were more likely to be lost to follow-up, and thus complications in this group may be underreported. CONCLUSION: While socioeconomic opportunity does not appear to be a risk factor in the development of complications after distal hypospadias repair, non-white children and those with lower COI were more likely to be lost to follow-up and without proper follow-up this group has an unknown true complication rate.

Think before you pop: Outcomes of non-operative management of ureteroceles.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Ureteroceles are often diagnosed antenatally and incidentally and treated in a minimally invasive fashion with endoscopic puncture. Recent literature suggests that observation, or non-operative management, is an effective and viable management option in select patients with ureteroceles and certain radiologic findings, however there is no consensus on how to best select patients for non-operative management. OBJECTIVE: To 1) determine if pediatric ureteroceles managed non-operatively require less or sooner secondary surgical intervention than those managed with up-front incision, 2) describe characteristics of success and failure in pediatric ureteroceles managed non-operatively, and 3) identify risk factors associated with receiving intervention and time to intervention. RESULTS: Of 287 ureteroceles, 65 (23%) were managed non-operatively and underwent secondary surgical intervention less frequently (9% vs. 34%, P < 0.01) and later (median age 40 vs. 20 months) than those managed with puncture. Successful non-operative management was associated with fewer comorbidities, smaller ureterocele size, absence of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and high-grade VUR, single collecting system, lesser degree of hydronephrosis, ipsilateral MCDK and intravesical location. For all ureteroceles, high-grade VUR, duplex system, and female sex were associated with shorter time to secondary intervention (intervention after initial management). DISCUSSION: In the largest retrospective review of ureterocele management, smaller ureterocele size, absence of high-grade VUR, single system, ipsilateral MCDK and minimal hydronephrosis were factors that increased the efficacy of non-operative management of select pediatric ureteroceles. Furthermore, time to event analysis showed that non-operative management did not predispose patients to sooner secondary intervention (Figure). Lack of a standardized protocol for ureterocele management is a limitation of this single institution retrospective study as it introduces selection bias to the results, however few patients with low risk characteristics underwent puncture and no high risk patients were observed. CONCLUSION: Smaller ureterocele size, absence of high-grade VUR, single system, ipsilateral MCDK and minimal hydronephrosis are factors that may increase the efficacy of non-operative management of select pediatric ureteroceles, which may delay or avoid secondary surgical intervention.

Who needs an ultrasound? Using patient symptom questionnaire & UTI history to determine when to obtain an RBUS in children with non-neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction.

INTRODUCTION: Non-neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) is one of the most common reasons for presentation to a pediatric urologist, affecting up to 20% of children. Predicting who will benefit from RBUS as part of their work-up is challenging as the majority will have normal imaging. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to assess the utility of using the Dysfunctional Voiding and Incontinence Scoring System (DVISS) and urinary tract infection (UTI) history to predict which LUTD patients were most likely to have an abnormal RBUS as well as determine a DVISS cutoff to aid in making this prediction. We hypothesized that higher DVISS scores and a positive urinary tract infection (UTI) history would be associated with increased likelihood of RBUS abnormality. STUDY DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed outpatients seen for LUTD from 5/2014-1/2016 who received an RBUS. Association between prior UTI, DVISS score, gender, and race and RBUS abnormality were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to evaluate the predictive model and a Youden index calculated to determine the optimal cutoff for DVISS score to predict abnormal RBUS. RESULTS: 15 of 333 patients (4.5%) had a clinically significant RBUS abnormality. Significantly more patients with abnormal RBUS had a positive UTI history and median DVISS was higher. UTI history and DVISS score were associated with RBUS abnormality whereas neither gender nor race were. A DVISS score cutoff of 12 was determined to be ideal for predicting abnormal imaging. Using DVISS≥12 and positive UTI history, patients with both risk factors were significantly more likely to have an abnormal RBUS than those with zero or one risk factor (Figure). DISCUSSION: To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to try to identify risk factors associated with RBUS abnormality in pediatric LUTD patients and create an evidence-based approach to imaging these patients. We found both DVISS cutoff ≥12 and positive UTI history to be useful to risk stratify LUTD patients' likelihood of abnormal RBUS. Limitations include the study's retrospective nature as well as the fact the population was drawn from a tertiary care pediatric hospital with a large referral population and the fact that the decision to order an RBUS was based on individual clinician preference and decision making. CONCLUSIONS: We found that DVISS score≥12 and UTI history are useful in guiding the decision to obtain RBUS in pediatric LUTD patients.

Impact of Race, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status on Symptom Severity at Time of Urologic Referral.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Dysfunctional Voiding and Incontinence Scoring System (DVISS) is a validated tool to evaluate lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) severity in children. DVISS provides a quantitative score (0-35) including a quality-of-life measure, with higher values indicating more/worse symptoms. Clinically, variability exists in symptom severity when patients present to pediatric urology with LUTD. We hypothesized that symptom severity at consultation varied based on race, gender, and/or socioeconomic status. METHODS: All urology encounters at a single institution with completed modified DVISS scores 6/2015-3/2018 were reviewed. Initial visits for patients 5-21 years old with non-neurogenic LUTD were included. Patients with neurologic disorders or genitourinary tract anomalies were excluded. Wilcoxon rank sum tests compared scores between White and Black patients and between male and female patients. Multiple regression models examined relationships among race, gender, estimated median household income, and insurance payor type. All statistics were performed using Stata 15. RESULTS: In total, 4086 initial patient visits for non-neurogenic LUTD were identified. Median DVISS scores were higher in Black (10) versus White (8) patients (p < 0.001). Symptom severity was higher in females (9) versus males (8) (p < 0.001). When estimated median income and insurance payer types were introduced into a multiple regression model, race, gender, and insurance payer type were significantly associated with symptom severity at presentation. CONCLUSIONS: Race, gender, and socioeconomic status significantly impact LUTS severity at the time of urologic consultation. Future studies are needed to clarify the etiologies of these disparities and to determine their clinical significance.

Caudal anesthesia is not associated with post-operative complications following distal hypospadias repair.

INTRODUCTION: The use of caudal anesthesia at the time of hypospadias repair remains controversial as some prior studies have reported increased postoperative complication rates associated with caudal nerve block. However, these results have been called into question due to confounding factors and heterogeneous study groups. OBJECTIVE: Given the importance of identifying true risk factors associated with increased hypospadias complication rate, we examined our experience with caudal anesthesia limiting our analysis to distal repairs. We hypothesized that caudal anesthesia would not be associated with increased postoperative complications. STUDY DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed our institutional hypospadias database from June 2007 to January 2021. All boys who underwent single-stage distal hypospadias repair with either caudal or penile block with minimum 1 month follow up were included. Records were reviewed to determine the type of local anesthesia, type of hypospadias repair, all complications, and time to complication. Association between any complication and local anesthesia type was evaluated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for age at surgery and type of repair. A sub-analysis was performed for complications occurring ≤30 days. RESULTS: Overall, 1008 boys, 832 (82.5%) who received caudal and 176 (17.5%) penile block, were included. Median age at surgery was 8.1 months and median follow up was 13 months. Overall complication rate was 16.4% with 13.8% of patients requiring repeat operation. Median time to complication was 10.59 months and was significantly shorter in the caudal group (8.45 vs. 25.2 months). Caudal anesthesia was associated with higher likelihood of complication on univariate analysis; however, this was not true on multivariate analysis when controlling for age and type of repair. Caudal anesthesia was not associated with increased likelihood of complication within 30 days. DISCUSSION: Since the association between caudal anesthesia and hypospadias complications was first suggested, several studies have tried to answer this question with variable results. Our findings add to the evidence that there is no association between caudal anesthesia and increased hypospadias complications in either the short or long term. The major strengths of our study are a large, homogenous study population, robust follow up and inclusion of data from 14 surgeons over 14 years. Limitations include the study's retrospective nature as well as lack of standardized follow up protocol throughout the study period. CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for possible confounders, caudal nerve block was not associated with increased risk of postoperative complications following distal hypospadias repair.

Thoracic spinal arachnoid cyst in a pediatric patient presenting with isolated bladder and bowel incontinence.

Spinal arachnoid cysts (SAC) are uncommon benign spinal cord lesions, particularly in children, that can result in a variety of neurologic symptoms, including neurogenic bladder. Here we present the case of a 7-year-old female with new onset, isolated urinary and stool incontinence who was found to have a T4-T7 SAC. Though this was initially believed to be an incidental imaging finding, after thorough work-up and persistence of her symptoms despite conservative measures she underwent neurosurgical intervention with complete resolution of incontinence. SAC represents a very rare but potentially reversible cause of neurogenic bladder that the urologist should be aware of.

Intrascrotal Lipoblastoma: A Rare Cause of Paratesticular Mass in a Pediatric Patient.

There is a broad differential diagnosis for a pre-pubertal child presenting with a scrotal mass including both benign and malignant etiologies. Lipoblastomas are rare benign neoplasms originating from fat cells that occur most commonly on the trunk or extremities of young children. There have been less than 20 cases of scrotal lipoblastomas reported in the literature, with the majority occurring in children less than 3 years of age. Here we present a unique case of an 18-month male presenting with a paratesticular mass found to be a lipoblastoma on final pathology.

The following 3 cases were presented at the 2020 virtual PUOWG conferenceLate Presentation of Wilms Tumor in a Patient with Hemihypertrophy after Normal Screening.

An identifiable genetic malformation or predisposition syndrome is present in 18% of Wilms tumor cases. Given this, children with conditions associated with a greater than 1% risk of developing Wilms tumor are recommended to have regular surveillance imaging with renal ultrasound until age 7. Seven years is the recommended screening duration because 95% of cases will occur by this age. We present a case of a child with isolated hemihypertrophy, associated with 5% risk of Wilms tumor, who presented with a tumor after the recommended screening, at age 9, brining into question the age cutoffs currently used.

Utilization of Robot-assisted Surgery for the Treatment of Primary Obstructed Megaureters in Children.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the technical aspects of robot assisted laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation (RALUR) for the management of primary obstructive megaureter (POM) and report initial outcomes, safety, and feasibility of the procedure. METHODS: Using an IRB- approved robotic surgery registry, we performed a retrospective chart review of patients undergoing RALUR for POM between April 2009 and May 2019. RESULTS: A total of 18 patients underwent RALUR using a modified Lich-Gregoir technique for management of POM and 7 (38.9%) of these underwent intracorporeal ureteral tapering at the time of surgery. At median follow up of 27.5 (IQR 11-50) months, no patient required reoperation for recurrent obstruction and all patients had improvement in hydronephrosis postoperatively. 30-day complications were low with 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II and 1 Grade III Clavien-Dindo complication. The most common issue postoperatively was febrile urinary tract infection, occurring in 6 patients (33.3%), at an average of 3.2 months after surgery. Increased operative time was the only significant difference between the tapered verses nontapered group. CONCLUSION: We present the largest series of RALUR for POM to date. Based upon our initial experience with this technique we believe it is technically feasible and reproducible with good outcomes and low complication rates. Future studies are needed to track long-term outcomes and better understand indications for and the utility of ureteral tapering as well as how to minimize febrile UTIs postoperatively. Additional follow up is needed to determine the efficacy of RALUR as compared to open ureteral reimplantation for POM.

Variant of Bladder Exstrophy With an Intact Penis: Surgical Options and Approach.

Variants of bladder exstrophy are a rare but diverse spectrum of bladder exstrophy-epispadias complex. This case series describes a group of 4 unique exstrophy variant cases who had an intact phallus, but a completely open bladder plate. These patients underwent exstrophy repair and concomitant umbilicoplasty at the Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad as part of the US-India Multi-institutional Bladder Exstrophy Collaboration and were followed at the same institution. We believe that a detailed assessment of bladder neck prior to reconstructive repair and bladder closure would be beneficial in these cases as the extent of bladder neck involvement would affect reconstructive approach.

Intraoperative contrast enhanced sonourethrography to characterize urethral stricture in a pediatric patient.

Fluoroscopic retrograde urethrogram (RUG) is the current gold standard to define urethral strictures, however, sonourethrography (SU) has been shown to be effective in this setting as well. Some advantages of SU include more accurate measurement of stricture length, lack of radiation, and ability to assess soft tissue surrounding strictures to help guide operative management. Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is an evolving imaging modality with increasing clinical utility in both pediatric and adult patient populations. We present a unique case in which contrast enhanced sonourethrography (CESU) was used to further characterize a urethral stricture intraoperatively to aid in surgical decision making.

Follow-up and Outcomes of Patients With Long-term Cutaneous Vesicostomies at a Single Institution.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and describe the characteristics of a group of patients at our institution who are satisfied with cutaneous vesicostomy for long-term bladder management and never undergo subsequent continence surgery. METHODS: Using an IRB-approved registry of our patients undergoing reconstructive urinary tract surgery since 1985, we identified patients who underwent vesicostomy creation and were 15 years or older as of October 2017 and performed a retrospective chart review. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients were included with the most common diagnosis being spina bifida and the average duration of vesicostomy 14.3 years (range 8 months to 35 years). In follow-up, 38 patients (56.7%) had conversations regarding further surgery and 31 (46.3%) had their vesicostomies taken down. Of the 36 patients who still had their vesicostomy at last follow-up, 29 (80.6%) had spina bifida and 14 (38.9%) were satisfied, 1 (2.8%) was unhappy, 4 (11.1%) were deceased and satisfaction was unknown for 17 (47.2 %). CONCLUSION: Although often intended to be temporary, in our experience many patients keep their vesicostomy for a long time and into adulthood, with generally high satisfaction and low complications. In the properly selected patient, vesicostomy may be a good long-term operation to prevent infection and renal deterioration, though more rigorous studies of these patients are needed.

An acute application of transcranial random noise stimulation does not enhance motor skill acquisition or retention in a golf putting task.

Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) is a brain stimulation technique that has been shown to increase motor performance in simple motor tasks. The purpose was to determine the influence of tRNS on motor skill acquisition and retention in a complex golf putting task. Thirty-four young adults were randomly assigned to a tRNS group or a SHAM stimulation group. Each subject completed a practice session followed by a retention session. In the practice session, subjects performed golf putting trials in a baseline test block, four practice blocks, and a post test block. Twenty-four hours later subjects completed the retention test block. The golf putting task involved performing putts to a small target located 3 m away. tRNS or SHAM was applied during the practice blocks concurrently with the golf putting task. tRNS was applied over the first dorsal interosseus muscle representation area of the motor cortex for 20 min at a current strength of 2 mA. Endpoint error and endpoint variance were reduced across the both the practice blocks and the test blocks, but these reductions were not different between groups. These findings suggest that an acute application of tRNS failed to enhance skill acquisition or retention in a golf putting task.