Percutaneous implantation of subcutaneous prosthetic ureters: long-term outcome.

PURPOSE: We have used an extra-anatomic subcutaneous alloplastic ureteral replacement initially to bypass ureteral obstruction secondary to advanced pelvic malignancies in patients with a short life expectancy. Following the encouraging preliminary results, our list of indications has broadened to include complex benign ureteral strictures. We herein report the long-term outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A series of 35 subcutaneous prosthetic ureters were implanted percutaneously in 27 patients (19 unilateral and 8 bilateral) to bypass extrinsic ureteral obstructions. The nature of obstruction was neoplastic in 22 patients and benign in 5. A composite prosthesis, consisting of two coaxial tubes--internal pure smooth silicone covered by coiled e-PTFE--has been designed to serve as the ureteral replacement. This tube is inserted percutaneously into the renal pelvis, tunnelled subcutaneously, and introduced through a small suprapubic incision in the bladder. All patients were followed to date or until death from tumor. The mean follow-up was 6.3 months for the deceased patients and 47 months for the surviving ones, the longest follow-up being 84 months. RESULTS: No operative or immediate postoperative deaths were observed. Initial difficulty in placing the prosthesis was encountered in 5 of the 27 patients (19%). Secondary parietal complications occurred in 8.5% of cases (3/35). The prosthetic ureter had to be removed in one patient because of skin erosion. Return to a standard percutaneous nephrostomy was needed in two patients because of local tumor progression with bladder fistulae. Five patients are alive with the prosthesis in place and a follow-up as long as 84 months without encrustation, infection, obstruction, or skin problems and with normally functioning kidneys. CONCLUSION: The subcutaneous urinary diversion using a silicone-PTFE prosthesis is an efficient and minimally invasive way to bypass malignant or complex benign obstructions of the ureters that otherwise would necessitate permanent nephrostomy drainage.

[Surgical treatment of cancer of the thyroid (author's transl)]. / La chirurgie comme traitement du cancer thyroïdien

The authors report their experience with cancer of the thyroid. Using statistical data from 760 operated cases and present day concept, they consider the difficulties of the diagnosis, the stage of evolution and the treatment in the form of a collaboration between surgery, clinic and nuclear medicine.

[The repair of voluminous postoperative abdominal wall defects with synthetic mesh]. / Repararea defectelor parietale abdominale voluminoase postoperatorii cu plase sintetice.

Important postoperative abdominal wall defects, especially recurrent or multirecidivated ones, are raising multiple problems to the surgeon. We are presenting a homogeneous trial of 209 patients with such lesions, in which the abdominal wall repair was made with different kind of synthetic materials, with good results. In a single case the mesh was rejected, because a silent quiescent infection. In three patients undergoing iterative abdominal operations for other diseases we performed optical and electronic microscopical studies showing out that the material integration was done by normal biological reaction. This provides the materials' tolerability and a normal reaction of the organism.