ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the typing and clinical value of posterior group renal calyces.Methods:From April 2020 to June 2021, 640 patients (320 men and 320 women) who underwent CTU examination in our hospital with kidneys on both sides and normal or only mild hydronephrosis in the collecting system were analyzed. A total of 1 280 renal CTU three-dimensional reconstructed images were counted.The patients aged 52.4±11.9 years. The patients' CTU images were reconstructed in three dimensions using the spine as a marker to rotate the collecting system images in stereoscopic space to simulate a prone position. A two-person review was taken to observe the imaging morphology of the renal calyces in the prone position, and the 640 renal calyces in the posterior group of the left and right sides were counted for staging. Based on the morphology of the renal calyces and the influence on the establishment of surgical access, the posterior group of renal calyces was divided into 3 major types. Pot-belly type: the renal pelvis is shaped like a pot-belly, and the renal pelvis is directly connected to the cup-shaped minor calyces without a distinct major renal calyces. Classically branched: 2 or more major renal calyces are branched and converge to form the renal pelvis. Elongated branched: the major calyces are branched, with at least one major calyces having an axis length ≥0.9cm and a neck width ≤0.3cm.The classic branching type is divided into three types, a, b, and c, including seven subtypes, based on the relationship of the posterior group of the minor calyces to the major calyces. Type a is derived from group 1 major calyces only, type b is derived from group 2 major calyces at the same time, and type c is derived from the upper, middle and lower groups of major calyces at the same time. Type a contains 3 subtypes.Type a1 is derived from the upper group of major calyces only, type a2 is derived from the middle group of major calyces only, and type a3 is derived from the lower group of major calyces only. Type b is also divided into 3 subtypes. Type b1 is derived from the upper and middle groups of major calyces at the same time, type b2 is derived from the middle and lower groups of major calyces at the same time, and type b3 for the upper and lower renal major calyces. Type c had no corresponding subtype.Results:Statistical findings revealed that all kidneys had posterior group calyces. The morphological typing of the posterior group of calyces was 8.83% (113/1 280) for the pot-bellied type, which had the highest occurrence of 2 minor calyces (5.63%, 72/1 280). 71.25% (912/1 280) had the classically branched type, which had the highest occurrence of 3 minor calyces (31.17%, 399/1 280). 19.92% (255/1 280) had the elongated branched type, with the highest percentage of 3 occurring in the calyces (9.92%, 127/1 280). The anatomical typing of the classical branching type occurred in 20.50% (187/912) for type a, 66.45% (606/912) for type b, and 13.05% (119 /912) for type c. The percentage of occurrence of type a1/a2/a3 was 4.06% (37/ 912), 6.14% (56/ 912), and 10.31% (94/912). b1/b2/b3 types occurred in 2.03% (21/912), 7.46% (68/912), and 56.69% (517/912), respectively.Conclusions:The posterior group of calyces is structurally complex and extremely variable. In this study, the posterior group calyces were found to be present in all patients, and the posterior group calyces were morphologically divided into 3 types, with the highest percentage of occurrence of the classical branching type and the highest percentage of 3 posterior group minor calyces. The classical branching anatomical typing was highest in type b with the highest percentage of type b3, which combined with stone distribution, made it easy to choose the puncture location. The typing of the posterior group of calyces can provide an anatomical basis for PCNL puncture from the posterior group.
ABSTRACT
Objective:To compare the injury of renal blood vessels using different puncture pathways and access sizes.Methods:Between April 2018 and June 2019, eighty fresh pig kidneys were selected to perform percutaneous puncture and dilation, which was used to compare the injury of renal blood vessels with different puncture pathways and access sizes. The puncture pathway included the centerline of the normal renal pyramid (A), centreline of one side pyramid of the fused renal pyramid (FRP) (B), midline of the entire FRP (C) and midline of the renal column (D). The access size included F8, F12, F16, F20, F24 and F30. Histopathological methods were used to analyze the injury of renal blood vessels.Results:The puncture through paths A and B mainly caused injury to the grade Ⅴ and Ⅵ arteries in renal cortex. The puncture often directly injures the grade Ⅳ artery in path C. The puncture often simultaneously injures the grade Ⅲ-Ⅵ arteries in path D. Grade Ⅲ artery injury began to occur when paths A, B, C, and D were dilated to F30, F24, F16, and F12, respectively. The degree of arterial injury among the four different puncture pathways was significantly different in F8, F12, F16, F20, F24 and F30 ( P<0.05). Statistical differences were found between paths A and D in F12, F16, F20, F24 and F30 ( P<0.05), and between paths A and C in F16, F20 and F24 ( P<0.05). No significant difference was found between paths A and B in all access sizes ( P>0.05). Compared with F8, the degree of arterial injury of the F30 in path A and the F24 and F30 in path B were increased significantly ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Vascular injury in path D was the most serious followed by that in path C. Relatively little vascular injury can be achieved in paths A and B. The vascular injury increased when the path B was dilated to F24, while the path A needed to be dilated to F30.