Search

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is a very demanding procedure and a large proportion of complications occur during the surgeon's initial learning curve. There is a...

Objectives To compare the oncological outcomes of patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) undergoing kidney-sparing surgery (KSS) with fibre-optic (FO) vs digital (D) ureteroscopy (URS). To evaluate the oncological impact of image-enhancement technologies such as narrow-band imaging (NBI) and Image1-S in patients with UTUC. Patients and Methods The Clinical Research Office of the Endourology Society (CROES)-UTUC registry is an international, multicentre, cohort study prospectively collecting data on patients with UTUC. Patients undergoing flexible FO- or D-URS for diagnostic or diagnostic and treatment purposes were included. Differences between groups in terms of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were evaluated. Results The CROES registry included 2380 patients from 101 centres and 37 countries, of whom 401 patients underwent URS (FO-URS 186 and D-URS 215). FO-URS were performed more frequently for diagnostic purposes, while D-URS was peformed when a combined diagnostic and treatment strategy was planned. Intra- and postoperative complications did not differ between the groups. The 5-year OS and DFS rates were 91.5% and 66.4%, respectively. The mean OS was 42 months for patients receiving FO-URS and 39 months for those undergoing D-URS (P = 0.9); the mean DFS was 28 months in the FO-URS group and 21 months in the D-URS group (P < 0.001). In patients who received URS with treatment purposes, there were no differences in OS (P = 0.9) and DFS (P = 0.7). NBI and Image1-S technologies did not improve OS or DFS over D-URS. Conclusions D-URS did not provide any oncological advantage over FO-URS. Similarly, no differences in terms of OS and DFS were found when image-enhancement technologies were compared to D-URS. These findings underline the importance of surgeon skills and experience, and reinforce the need for the centralisation of UTUC care.

Background: Since its first description, laparoscopic adrenalectomy has become the gold standard for the surgical treatment of adrenal tumors. In patients who have previously undergone major transperitoneal or retroperitoneal surgeries, a retroperitoneal access through a virgin thoracic cavity might be the only alternative for a minimally invasive approach. Case Presentation: We report a case of a 61-year-old man with a history of retroperitoneal nephrectomy caused by renal cell carcinoma. He then developed a cancer recurrence in the left renal fossa, which was rescued with a transperitoneal laparotomy. During surveillance, a CT scan revealed two lung nodules and an adrenal tumor, a biopsy of which confirmed as relapsed kidney cancer. The patient had a good performance status so pazopanib (800 mg/day) was initiated, with a partial response in the adrenal tumor. Considering the patient's background, he was regarded as an appropriate candidate for a thoracoscopic transdiaphragmatic adrenalectomy. The patient was operated under general anesthesia, with selected double-lumen endotracheal intubation in lateral decubitus position. Once transthoracic ports were placed, the diaphragm was incised, exposing the retroperitoneal space. At this stage, the adrenal mass was identifiable and dissected free from surrounding structures. There were no intraoperative and postoperative complications. The patient was discharged after surgery without opioid requirement. The pathology report confirmed the relapsed renal cancer with negative surgical margins. The patient was alive and without a kidney cancer relapse at his last follow-up visit. Conclusions: As we described in our case, thoracoscopic transdiaphragmatic adrenalectomy might be taken into consideration in patients with a history of previous major transabdominal or retroperitoneal surgeries. In addition, the lateral decubitus position might be advantageous for anesthetists unfamiliar with the prone position.

Summary We present the case of a 25-year-old male with a history of neurofibromatosis type 1 and bilateral pheochromocytoma 4 years after kidney transplantation that was successfully treated with simultaneous bilateral posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy. Learning points: Hypertensive patients with NF1 should always be screened for pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytoma is rarely associated with transplantation, but it must be ruled out in patients with genetic susceptibility. Posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy (PRA) allows more direct access to the adrenal glands, especially in patients with previous abdominal surgeries.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the major cause of death among patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. Resistance to therapies targeting tumor angiogenesis opens the question about the underlying mechanisms. Previously we have described that RWDD3 or RSUME (RWD domain-containing protein SUMO Enhancer) sumoylates and binds VHL protein and negatively regulates HIF degradation, leading to xenograft RCC tumor growth in mice. In this study, we performed a bioinformatics analysis in a ccRCC dataset showing an association of RSUME levels with VHL mutations and tumor progression, and we demonstrate the molecular mechanism by which RSUME regulates the pathologic angiogenic phenotype of VHL missense mutations. We report that VHL mutants fail to downregulate RSUME protein levels accounting for the increased RSUME expression found in RCC tumors. Furthermore, we prove that targeting RSUME in RCC cell line clones carrying missense VHL mutants results in decreased early tumor angiogenesis. The mechanism we describe is that RSUME sumoylates VHL mutants and beyond its sumoylation capacity, interacts with Type 2 VHL mutants, reduces HIF-2α-VHL mutants binding, and negatively regulates the assembly of the Type 2 VHL, Elongins and Cullins (ECV) complex. Altogether these results show RSUME involvement in VHL mutants deregulation that leads to the angiogenic phenotype of RCC tumors. Fil: Tedesco, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Elguero, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Gonilski Pacin, David Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Senin, Sergio Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Pollak, Cora Noemí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Garcia Marchiñena, Patricio A.. Hospital Italiano; Argentina Fil: Jurado, Alberto M.. Hospital Italiano; Argentina Fil: Isola, Mariana. Hospital Italiano; Argentina Fil: Labanca, María J.. Hospital Italiano; Argentina Fil: Palazzo, Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Yankilevich, Patricio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Fuertes, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina Fil: Arzt, Eduardo Simon. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina

To describe the perioperative and oncology outcomes in a series of laparoscopic or robotic partial nephrectomies (PN) for renal tumors treated in diverse institutions of Hispanic America from the beginning of their minimally invasive (MI) PN experience through December 2014. Seventeen institutions participated in the CAU generated a MI PN database. We estimated proportions, medians, 95 % confidence intervals, Kaplan-Meier curves, multivariate logistic and Cox regression analyses. Clavien-Dindo classification was used. We evaluated 1501 laparoscopic (98 %) or robotic (2 %) PNs. Median age: 58 years. Median surgical time, warm ischemia and intraoperative bleeding were 150, 20 min and 200 cc. 81 % of the lesions were malignant, with clear cell histology being 65 % of the total. Median maximum tumor diameter is 2.7 cm, positive margin is 8.2 %, and median hospitalization is 3 days. One or more postoperative complication was recorded in 19.8 % of the patients: Clavien 1: 5.6 %; Clavien 2: 8.4 %; Clavien 3A: 1.5 %; Clavien 3B: 3.2 %; Clavien 4A: 1 %; Clavien 4B: 0.1 %; Clavien 5: 0 %. Bleeding was the main cause of a reoperation (5.5 %), conversion to radical nephrectomy (3 %) or open partial nephrectomy (6 %). Transfusion rate is 10 %. In multivariate analysis, RENAL nephrometry score was the only variable associated with complications (OR 1.1; 95 % CI 1.02-1.2; p = 0.02). Nineteen patients presented disease progression or died of disease in a median follow-up of 1.37 years. The 5-year progression or kidney cancer mortality-free rate was 94 % (95 % CI 90, 97). Positive margins (HR 4.98; 95 % CI 1.3-19; p = 0.02) and females (HR 5.6; 95 % CI 1.7-19; p = 0.005) were associated with disease progression or kidney cancer mortality after adjusting for maximum tumor diameter. Laparoscopic PN in these centers of Hispanic America seem to have acceptable perioperative complications and short-term oncologic outcomes.

Objectives: To evaluate functional and oncologic outcomes of partial nephrectomy (PN) in patients with a solitary kidney. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with a solitary kidney undergoing nephron-sparing surgery between March 2003 and March 2013 was performed. GFR was recorded before the procedure and 3 months after surgery, thus establishing a change (cGFR). Several variables that may influence cGFR were analyzed. Complications are herein described, namely bleeding, fistula, acute renal failure and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Local recurrence and margin status are also described. Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan Meier method (2 patients with metastasis at the time of surgery were excluded from the analysis). Results: Forty-five patients were available for analysis. Median follow-up was 27.56 months (r 3-96). Mean cGFR was-7.12mL/min (SD 2.1). Variables significantly related with lower GFR after surgery were loss of renal mass (p=0.01)) and male gender (p=0.03). Four patients (8.8%) experienced hemorrhage. Nine patients (20%) developed a urinary fistula. Only one patient with bleeding required open surgery. Two patients (4.4%) needed transient dialysis. Three patients (6.6%) developed ESRD. Four patients (8.8%) had positive surgical margins (PSMs) and four patients (88%) had local recurrence (2 of these had PSMs). Five patients (11.1%) died during follow-up. Four patients (8.8%) died because of renal cancer. Estimated 2-year overall survival, disease-free survival and cancer specific survival rates were 88.4% (CI 95% 70.5-96); 87.7% (CI 95% 68.1-96) and 92.4% (CI 95% 75-98), respectively. Conclusion: Loss of renal mass and male gender were associated with lower postoperative GFR. Our outcomes were comparable with those in the World literature.

The aim of this paper is to describe the epidemiological characteristics, clinical management and pathologic patterns in a population with renal tumors in our institution. Prospective data collection was performed over a period of 4.5 years, from January 2010 to June 2014. A total of 819 cases (796 patients) were treated for renal mass during this period. The mean age was 60.7 years (SD 13.1). There were 553 (69.5%) males (male to female ratio: 2.2: 1). Twenty nine per cent (230 patients) were obese (BMI = 30). The diagnosis was incidental in 653 cases (79.7%), 48.8% presented one or more risk factors, being smoking the most frequent (34%). In 238 patients (29.9%) there was more than one comorbidity; 18% had preoperative creatinine = 1.3 mg/dl. Lesions were = 4 cm (cT1a) in 45% of the patients, and 10.8% (86) had metastases at diagnosis. The lesions were resected in 93.5% and actively monitored in 6.5% (not resected). In surgery treated patients, radical nephrectomy was performed in 51.5% of cases, and nephron sparing surgery in 48.5% of them. The laparoscopic approach was used in 56.2%. The pattern of presentation of renal masses is characterized by incidental diagnosis in early disease stages. Nephron sparing surgery is the first choice in nearly half of patients. Active surveillance has been used in a greater percentage than previously reported.

Objetivo: Desde la aparición de la litotricia extracorpórea por ondas de choque (LEOC), esta se ha convertido en el tratamiento de elección para los cálculos renales menores de 2 cm. La tasa de éxito de la misma varía entre el 60 al 99 % dependiendo de factores tales como la composición, tamaño, tipo de generador, localización, entre otros. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar si la densidad del cálculo en unidades Hounsfield (UH) mediante una tomografía computada sin contraste (TCSC) es capaz de predecir composición y fragilidad de la litiasis al tratamiento con LEOC. Métodos: Prospectivamente fueron recolectados 27 litos de alrededor de 10 mm provenientes de pacientes sometidos a diferentes procedimientos endourológicos (19 litotricias percutaneas, 2 litotricias ureterales y 6 litotricias vesicales), los cuales habían sido evaluados tomográficamente, midiéndose en UH la densidad de sus cálculos. Los litos fueron sometidos a litotricia extracorporea por ondas de choque "in vitro", para lo cual se conformó un dispositivo experimental. Se aplicaron 3000 pulsos a una intensidad de 17.2 Kw utilizando un generador electromagnético (Lithostar) a todos los cálculos. Se evaluó la composición de cada uno de los fragmentos mediante un estudio cristalográfico. Los resultados obtenidos fueron analizados estadísticamente utilizando el test de Student, test de Chi² y análisis multivariado. Resultados: La LEOC "in vitro" fue efectiva en 16 casos (59.26 %). Del total de los cálculos estudiados, 11 fueron puros y 16 tuvieron una composición mixta. Las UH promedio de los cálculos, agrupados por composición fue: cistina 1015 UH, oxalato de calcio monohidratados 1193, ácido úrico 419 UH, oxalato de calcio dihidratado 2122 UH , estruvita 1543 UH y fosfato básico de magnesio 1517 UH. Se encontró una relación estadísticamente significativa entre valores menores de 500 UH y composición de ácido úrico (p=0.0006), así como también valores mayores a 2000 UH y composición de oxalato de calcio dihidratado (p=0.0244). En el grupo de cálculos con menos de 1000 UH (n=11) la efectividad fue del 81.8 %, mientras que en el resto fue del 43.75 % (p=0.0479). Al asociar composición del cálculo con efectividad, encontramos una relación estadísticamente significativa entre presencia de ácido úrico y efectividad (p=0.021). No se encontraron relaciones estadísticamente significativas entre tamaño y efectividad del tratamiento. Conclusiones: El uso de la TCSC permitiría predecir la composición de oxalato de calcio dihidratado y ácido úrico. Valores de UH menores a 1000, aumentan significativamente el éxito del tratamiento.

Objetivo: La fractura de pene es una lesión que responde habitualmente a un traumatismo cerrado que ocurre con el pene en erección. Cerca del 20-30% de los casos en occidente, se asocian a lesión del cuerpo esponjoso. Presentamos el caso de un paciente atendido en nuestro servicio y realizamos una revisión de la literatura. Métodos: Se trata de un paciente de 42 años de edad, que luego de una relación sexual violenta, presentó una fractura de pene con lesión asociada de uretra. Se lo intervino quirúrgicamente, se constató la lesión de ambos cuerpos cavernosos y la sección completa de de la uretra. Ambas lesiones fueron reparadas en el mismo acto quirúrgico. Resultados: El paciente evolucionó satisfactoriamente sin complicaciones y sin secuelas estéticas ni funcionales. Conclusiones: La fractura de pene con lesión asociada de uretra es una patología excepcional, cuya etiología más frecuente en occidente se debe a una relación sexual violenta. Una correcta anamnesis y un examen físico correcto son suficientes en la mayoría de los casos para hacer diagnóstico. El abordaje quirúrgico temprano y el cierre de la albuginea junto a la reparación de la uretra, permite alcanzar los mejores resultados.

Clinicians face important pitfalls in the treatment of Renal cell carcinoma (RCC), such as absence of symptoms in early stages of the disease, its high metastatic potential and its resistance to conventional therapy. These facts emphasize the requirement of early diagnosis to optimize the chance of cure. ccRCC, the most common histological type of RCC, is considered a cell metabolic disease which develops from the activation of pseudohypoxic pathways. The transmembrane enzyme CAIX, involved in pH homeostasis and expressed in ccRCC tumors, is considered to be one of the best cellular biomarkers of hypoxia. Our aim was to study the role of serum CAIX as diagnostic biomarker of ccRCC, taking into account that serum contains a rich untapped source of disease-specific information. Employing a quantitative ELISA test (R&D System), the expression of serum CAIX of 30 ccRCC patients and 16 healthy controls was evaluated. Samples from cancer patients were taken before surgery, without any previous treatment (S1), and after tumor removal (S2). ccRCC patients showed significantly elevated values of serum CAIX (Median 75.89 pg/ml, range 30,8-1482,9) respect to the levels observed in healthy controls (23.29, 0.0-79.9). On the basis of the optimal cut-off point of 34,821 pg/ml serum CAIX, 22/30 cancer patients showed high values of CAIX versus only 1/15 healthy controls (p< 0.01, Chi square test). The assay of serum CAIX expression in our population exhibited a sensitivity of 93.8% and a specificity of 73.3%. Besides, we demonstrated that Stage I ccRCC patients showed significantly lower levels of the circulating enzyme (Md, range expressed in pg/ml CAIX: Stage I= 45.3, 30.8-107.9 vs Stage IV=102.9, 36.2-1482.9; MW test p We conclude that serum CAIX could be a useful diagnostic biomarker in ccRCC patients. This would be of relevant importance as there is a lack of molecular biomarkers for this pathology. Citation Format: Maria Elena Knott, Myriam Nuñez, Maria Natalia Gandur Quiroga, Gaston Boggio, Julieta Grasselli, Guillermo Gueglio, Pedro Rondot Radío, Mariano Brzesinski, Leonardo Pasik, Carla Pulero, Ana Alvarez, Hector Malagrino, Patricio Garcia Marchiñena, Alberto Jurado, Elisa Bal de Kier Joffe, Maria Guadalupe Pallotta, Lydia I. Puricelli. Serum carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) as diagnostic biomarker in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients . [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 12. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-12

Objectives: The clinical significance of positive surgical margin (PSM) after a Nephron Sparing Surgery (NSS) is controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between PSM and the risk of disease recurrence in patients with pT1 kidney tumors who underwent NSS. Materials and Methods: Retrospective cohort study. A total of 314 patients submitted to a NSS due to stage pT1 renal tumor between January 2010 and June 2015 were included. Recurrence-free survival was estimated. The Cox model was used to adjust the tumor size, histological grade, pathological stage, age, surgical margins and type of approach. Results: Overall PSM was 6.3% (n=22). Recurrence was evidenced in 9.1% (n=2) of patients with PSM and 3.5% (n=10) for the group of negative surgical margin (NSM). The estimated local recurrence-free survival rate at 3 years was 96.4% (95% CI 91.9 to 100) for the NSM group and 87.8% (95% CI 71.9 to 100) for PSM group (p=0.02) with no difference in metastasis-free survival. The PSM and pathological high grade (Fuhrman grade III or IV) were independent predictors of local recurrence in the multivariate analysis (HR 12.9, 95%CI 1.8-94, p=0.011 / HR 38.3, 95%CI 3.1-467, p=0.004 respectively). Fuhrman grade proved to be predictor of distant recurrence (HR 8.1, 95%CI 1.6-39.7, p=0.011). Conclusions: The PSM in pT1 renal tumors showed to have higher risk of local recurrence and thus, worse oncological prognosis.