Search

Introduction: The blood-based inflammatory marker, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), is a reliable prognostic biomarker for several cancers. Although the literature supports the correlation between preoperative NLR, clinicopathological characteristics, and oncological outcomes in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC), the cutoff of NLR is still debated. This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of NLR in patients with UTUC., Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from July 2012 to December 2022 evaluating patients with UTUC who underwent radical nephroureterectomy (RNU). NLR was calculated using the neutrophil and lymphocyte counts obtained a day before the surgery and the cutoff value was set as 2.5. Kaplan-Meier and Cox's proportional hazards regression were used to analyze the association between NLR and the oncological outcomes., Results: The study included 91 patients (78 males, 13 females) in the final analysis with a median follow-up of 49 months (8-130). The mean age of the patients with NLR <2.5 and NLR ≥2.5 was 56.88 years and 56.35 years, respectively, and the pathological stage was pT1 in 48%, pT2 in 20.88%, pT3 in 27.47%, and pT4 in 3.30% of the patients. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that the preoperative NLR ≥2.5 was significantly associated (Hz = 7.17) with higher T stage, lymphovascular invasion, necrosis, nodal involvement, adjuvant chemotherapy, and worse overall survival (OS) (Hz = 9.87). The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed an improved OS in patients with NLR <2.5, but a statistically significant difference in the recurrence-free survival was not found., Conclusions: Preoperative NLR is an easily available, inexpensive, and important prognostic biomarker of survival in patients with UTUC and has a potential role in risk stratification by predicting adverse clinicopathological characteristics., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Indian Journal of Urology.)

Background: Men with idiopathic obstructive azoospermia (OA) are candidates for surgical reconstruction with a vasoepididymal anastomosis (VEA) performed on one or both testis. There are no randomised trials comparing the success of unilateral versus bilateral VEA., Objective: We conducted a randomised trial to compare the two surgical options., Design Setting and Participants: Between April 2017 and March 2022, men with infertility due to idiopathic OA were randomised to a unilateral (group 1) or bilateral (group 2) VEA in an ethics committee-approved clinical trial, registered with the Clinical Trials Registry., Outcome Measurements and Statistical Analysis: The primary outcome was successful surgery, defined as appearance of sperm in the ejaculate, evaluated at 3 mo intervals after surgery. Additional outcomes were pregnancy rates and complications between the two groups. Men with successful surgery were compared with those without patency to identify the predictors of success., Results and Limitations: Fifty-four men fulfilled the criteria and 52 who completed follow-up were included in the analysis. The overall patency rate was 36.5% (19/52 individuals). This was higher in men with bilateral surgery (12/26 patients, 46%) than in those with unilateral surgery (7/26 patients, 27%) but was not statistically significant ( p  = 0.1). The overall pregnancy rate with ejaculated sperm was significantly higher in the bilateral surgery group (4 vs 0, p  = 0.037), while the spontaneous conception rate was higher but not statistically significant (3 vs 0, p  = 0.074). The complication rates in the two groups were similar ( p  = 0.7), and all complications were Clavien-Dindo grade 1. Although bilateral surgery and presence of sperm in epididymal fluid were higher in men with patency, these were not statistically significant., Conclusions: A bilateral VEA was associated with higher patency and spontaneous pregnancy rates than unilateral surgery, but the results were not statistically significant. However, the overall pregnancy rate with ejaculated sperm, spontaneous and assisted, was significantly higher in the bilateral surgery group., Patient Summary: In this study, we compared between unilateral and bilateral reconstructive surgery in azoospermic men and found better overall success with bilateral surgery. However, these results were not statistically significant., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Differentiating obstructive (OA) from non-obstructive (NOA) azoospermia is clinically important in managing infertile men. Classically, the differentiation has been based on clinical, hormonal and histological analysis. Histological tests are invasive and may miss spermatogenic areas. Seminal fluid can serve as a medium to assess the status of spermatogenesis and presence or absence of certain markers can help diagnosing and differentiating azoospermia. We evaluated the role of cell-free seminal markers: DDX4, PRM1 and PRM2 in diagnosing and differentiating between OA and NOA and classifying their subtypes. We observed DDX4 was more sensitive for NOA compared with OA. Among various subtypes of NOA, DDX4 positivity was higher in patients with maturation arrest and hypospermatogenesis compared with Sertoli cell only syndrome. PRM1 and PRM2 had very low positivity rate for any meaningful comparison. Seminal cell-free markers can serve as non-invasive tests in diagnosing and differentiating etiologies of azoospermia but their validity needs to be proved in long-term trials with more refined molecular techniques., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GMbH.)

Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: There are no conflicts of interest.

Malignant rhabdoid tumours of the kidney (MRTK) are rare paediatric tumours known for their aggressive nature and early metastasis. However, MRTK in adults are even more rare with only a few cases reported in the literature. Herein, we report a case of 65-year-old woman with rapidly progressive left renal mass requiring en-bloc radical nephrectomy, splenectomy and distal pancreatectomy. Histopathology revealed a malignant rhabdoid tumour with characteristic histological and immunohistochemical findings with negative margins. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of aggressive surgical management of locally advanced MRTK. Despite surgery with curative intent, the patient developed early recurrence and started on tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Unfortunately, the patient expired after 8 months of surgery due to disease progression., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

To evaluate the perioperative outcomes of patients undergoing open radical cystectomy for carcinoma bladder in a tertiary care center. A retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of all patients undergoing open radical cystectomy with a urinary diversion from July 2014 to August 2019 was done. A total of 195 patients were included. A total of 172 patients (88.2%) underwent radical cystectomy with ileal or sigmoid conduit, 6 patients underwent orthotopic neobladder, and 17 patients underwent cutaneous ureterostomy. The mean American Society of Anaesthesiology (ASA) score was 1.4. On preoperative histopathology, 125 patients had the muscle-invasive disease. The mean operative time (± SD) was 303.6 ± 53.4 min and the operative time was significantly longer for neobladder ( p  = 0.033). The mean blood loss (± SD) was 977.5 ± 346.5 ml. Among the complications, a total of 350 events occurred in 96 patients (49.3%). Thirty-nine patients (20%) suffered grade I complications, 12 patients (6.2%) suffered grade II complications, 26 patients (13.3%) suffered grade III complications, and 9 patients (4.6%) suffered grade IV complications. Grade III, IV, and V complications were considered major complications and 46 patients (23.5%) had major complications. Among the grade III complications, the majority included fascial dehiscence (burst abdomen), i.e., 13.3%, and uretero-ileal leak, i.e., 2.6%. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 5.2% (10/195). On multivariate analysis, the presence of diabetes mellitus ( p  = 0.047), operative time ( p  = 0.003), and low preoperative albumin ( p  = 0.009) were significant predictors for major preoperative complications. Diabetes mellitus, serum albumin, and operative time are significant predictors of postoperative complications. The ASA score, low preoperative hemoglobin, and blood loss are significant predictors of perioperative mortality. Though radical cystectomy has been associated with significant perioperative morbidity and mortality, the advancements in surgical techniques and intensive care tools have led to a significant decrease in morbidity and mortality in the contemporary era., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© Indian Association of Surgical Oncology 2021.)

Introduction: There is a worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity among the adolescent population in India from 16.3% in 2001 to 19.3% in 2010. Recent evidence suggests that bariatric surgery leads to resolution of comorbidities and associated long-term complications in adolescent patients with morbid obesity., Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the impact of bariatric surgery on the weight loss and comorbidities of morbidly obese adolescents., Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of the data of 10 adolescent patients, who underwent Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy at our institute (tertiary care hospital), from July 2009 to July 2016 was carried out., Results: Of the 10 patients, 4 patients had syndromic forms of obesity. The median age was 16.54 years. The median pre-operative weight and height were 112 kg and 154 cm, respectively, with a body mass index of 47.2 kg/m 2 . There was no intra-operative or post-operative complication except for suspected methylene blue toxicity in one patient which was treated conservatively. Median follow-up period was 1 year (0-5 years). The patients had an increase in excess weight loss (EWL) of 54.5% until the end of 1 year. There was a regain of weight between the 1 st and 2 nd year, followed by a sustained weight loss achieving 44.8% EWL at 3 years and 60% at the end of 5 years (only two patients followed up at 5 years). Similar results were found in syndromic patients. Among the four diabetic patients, three had complete resolution and one had improvement in diabetes status. Among the three patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, two patients had complete resolution, while one patient had improvement in symptoms. One patient with hypocortisolism improved after surgery with a decrease in the steroid requirement. Among the hypothyroid patients, one patient had a complete resolution, one patient had improvement in hypothyroid status while two patients had no change., Conclusion: Bariatric surgery is effective for morbidly obese adolescents, leading to significant resolutions of comorbid illness., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest

24-year-old woman at 28 weeks gestation was referred from peripheral hospital with diagnosis of pregnancy with portal hypertension. She had received multiple transfusion for pancytopaenia in the past and had undergone endoscopic sclerotherapy for oesophageal varices. Initially, she was admitted in our hospital at 28 weeks gestation for blood transfusion and was evaluated by multispecialty team of doctors. She was advised splenectomy for transfusion-dependent pancytopaenia secondary to hypersplenism in non-cirrhotic portal hypertension. She was readmitted at 36 weeks gestation. A decision for caesarean was taken owing to failed induction of labour at 38 weeks gestation. She underwent combined caesarean with splenectomy. Mother and child had an uneventful postoperative recovery and were discharged on ninth postoperative day. Preconceptional counselling, treatment of oesophageal varices and multispecialty approach was paramount in the management. Combined caesarean with splenectomy is feasible and cost-effective treatment associated with improved quality of life. Prospective clinical trials are essential to prove safety and efficacy of treatment., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)