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Aims The study presents the early results of hand-assisted laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy (HALDN) carried out in West of Scotland from June 2009 to October 2010. Methods The first 20 HALDN procedures carried out in our unit are presented. The outcomes reported are warm ischaemia time, operative time, delayed graft function, recipient renal function and one-month morbidity and mortality of donor and recipient. SPSS 15.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results The mean age of the donors was 44 ± 10 years, predominantly females ( n = 13), median operative time 135 ± 33 min and warm ischaemia time 41 ± 16 s. The length of the incision used was 65 mm in all cases. Duration of hospital stay was 5 ± 1 days. Patient mortality was 0 and morbidity minimal with two donors developing minor wound infection and no other clinically significant postoperative morbidity. Among the recipients, 18/20 (90%) transplants worked primarily with two delayed graft functions, one due to early surgical complications in a small paediatric recipient and one due to recipient renal artery thrombosis. Conclusion HALDN is safe and associated with minimal morbidity; further analysis aims to confirm excellent cosmetic results and quick return to activity compared with the standard open nephrectomy technique.

The authors present a rare case of ventriculitis secondary to cerebro spinal fluid (CSF) colonization with Escherichia coli species in a 65-year-old woman. Passage of bacterial organisms from the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract to the bloodstream or lymphatic tissue is known as translocation. Once in the bloodstream, particular bacteria are able to cross the blood–brain barrier and migrate to CSF. Elective abdominal surgery, intestinal obstruction, colorectal cancer, ischaemic reperfusion injury and pancreatitis have all increased the risk of this phenomenon. This account highlights particular events in presentation and management of such a case, followed by a brief literature review.

Testicular duplication is an extremely rare condition. It is usually asymptomatic or found incidentally at examination. In this case a relatively common clinical scenario proves to represent a duplex, cryptorchid testis. The aetiology of this condition, its management and implications for malignancy and fertility are reviewed.