Laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy: a comparison with the conventional open approach.

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy is an emerging technique that has not yet gained widespread acceptance in the transplant community due to perceived technical difficulties. However, the potential advantages of decreasing donor morbidity, decreasing hospital stay and improving convalescence while producing a functional kidney for the recipient may prove to enhance living related renal transplantation. We report our early experience with laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 50 consecutive laparoscopic nephrectomies performed from October 1998 to May 2000 and compared them with 50 consecutive open donor nephrectomies, which served as historical controls. RESULTS: Donor age, donor sex and number of HLA mismatches did not differ statistically in the 2 groups. In the laparoscopic and open nephrectomy groups mean followup was 109 and 331 days (p = 0.0001), mean operative time was 234 and 208 minutes (p = 0.0068), mean estimated blood loss was 114 and 193 ml (p = 0.0001), and mean hospital stay was 3.5 and 4.7 days (p = 0.0001), respectively. Average renal warm ischemia time was 2.8 minutes in the laparoscopic nephrectomy group. Serum creatinine did not differ statistically in the 2 groups preoperatively or postoperatively at days 1 and 5, and 1 month. The rate of recipient ureteral complications in the laparoscopic and open nephrectomy groups was 2% (1 of 50 cases) and 6% (3 of 50), respectively (not significant). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy is an attractive alternative to open donor nephrectomy. Laparoscopic nephrectomy results in less postoperative discomfort, an improved cosmetic result and more rapid recovery for the donor with equivalent functional results and complications.

Decreased use of post-renal transplant imaging.

OBJECTIVES: The current need to evaluate necessity and cost of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures extends to transplant services. We reviewed our experience over the past 3 years as we have moved away from routine post-transplant nuclear medicine scans, ultrasounds, and cystograms. METHODS: From January 1, 1992 to December 31, 1994, 252 kidney transplants were performed at Virginia Mason Medical Center. There were 74 live donor and 178 cadaver donor kidneys transplanted. The records of these patients were reviewed for the type and number of post-transplant imaging done during their initial hospitalization. RESULTS: During the study period, the number of post-transplant imaging studies per patient decreased from 2.7 to 1.4 (P = 0.000), the percentage of patients discharged without any studies rose from 2.8% to 24.4% (P = 0.001), and the trend in 1-year actual graft survival increased from 84.7% to 93.0% (P = 0.187). CONCLUSIONS: Post-transplant imaging studies can be safely reduced. Many patients with good initial graft function can avoid having any studies.

Pubovaginal slings using fascia lata for the treatment of intrinsic sphincter deficiency.

PURPOSE: Various materials and techniques have been used to construct a pubovaginal sling. We believe that fascia lata has several advantages and report our experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 32 female patients with urodynamically proved intrinsic sphincter deficiency underwent a pubovaginal sling procedure using fascia lata. An unscarred fascial strip 24 to 28 x 2 cm. was attached to itself over a 3 to 4 cm. bridge of abdominal wall fascia. Results were tabulated by chart review and an independent patient survey. RESULTS: Chart review revealed that 28 of 32 patients (87%) required no pads, and 3 improved and 1 did not. An independent patient survey revealed that 70% of patients (21 of 30) required no pads, 20% required 1 to 3 small pads and 10% required more than 3 small pads per day. Of the patients 80% would undergo the procedure again. CONCLUSIONS: Excellent results can be obtained with fascia lata for the treatment of intrinsic sphincter deficiency. A long, wide strip of fascia attached to itself allows for precise tensioning and good urethral closure, and minimizes the risk of obstruction.

Timing of penile color flow duplex ultrasonography using a triple drug mixture.

Duplex ultrasonography is an accepted method to assess noninvasively arterial inflow to the penis. Optimal pharmacological agents as well as timing of the scan and stimulation during the scan continue to be debated. In an effort to achieve a more complete smooth muscle relaxation and capture what we perceived was a wide variation in interval to maximum arterial velocity, we revised our duplex protocol in January 1991. We report on 280 consecutive patients evaluated in this manner. Patients received 0.25 or 0.5 cc of a triple drug mixture containing 22.5 mg./cc papaverine, 0.83 mg./cc phentolamine and 8.33 micrograms/cc prostaglandin E1. Scans were performed at 0, 5, 15 and 30 minutes after injection in all patients. Any patient not having a full erection at 15 minutes performed private self-stimulation while in the standing position for at least 5 minutes before the 30-minute scan. If we conservatively define normal arterial inflow as a peak Doppler velocity of 25 cm. per second or greater in the best artery, only 35% of our patients achieved this velocity at 5 minutes. Of the remainder 26% and 22% did not reach normal velocity values until 15 and 30 minutes, respectively, after the injection. By delaying initial measurements of velocity until 5 minutes, could the highest inflow velocity be missed and patients diagnosed incorrectly? The group at risk would be those who had good tumescence at 5 minutes and who had presumably already decreased the inflow velocities. Of the 280 patients 74 (26%) had greater than 10% tumescence at 5 minutes. Only 6 of these 74 patients did not reach velocities of 25 cm. per second or more in the best artery at some time during their study. In conclusion, our study clearly supports delaying the initial scan until 5 minutes, since only 6 of our 280 patients (2.1%) may have been incorrectly diagnosed. The study also strongly argues for additional scans until 30 minutes and self-stimulation when necessary.

Complications following unstented parallel incision extravesical ureteroneocystostomy in 1,000 kidney transplants.

Between May 10, 1982 and September 1, 1990, 1,000 kidney transplant recipients underwent parallel incision extravesical ureteroneocystostomy for urinary tract reconstruction. Complications attributed to this surgical technique that required reoperation occurred in 2.1% of the recipients. These complications included urinary extravasation in 9 patients, ureteral necrosis in 3, ureteral obstruction in 3, ureteral bleeding in 3, ureteral implantation into thickened folds of peritoneum in 2 on chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and ureteral implantation into an ovarian cyst in 1. Vesicoureteral reflux occurred in 0.4% of the ureteroneocystostomies, none of which was revised. No allografts were lost as a result of these complications. The principles of the technique are sound. One should be careful if the patient has a small, defunctionalized or scarred bladder, has undergone multiple pelvic operations or has had pelvic inflammatory disease.

Ten years of training community urologists and general surgeons to do cadaver kidney retrievals.

We trained 82 community hospital cadaver kidney retrieval teams during a 10-year period ending June 30, 1987. During the last 5 years of that period the concept of multiple organ retrieval was introduced into the training sessions and 429 cadaver kidney grafts were retrieved. Of those kidneys 292 were transplanted at our hospital, and the function of 220 cadaver kidney grafts retrieved by the community hospital teams was compared to that of 72 retrieved by the transplant center retrieval team. Of the cadaver kidney transplants 114 were from multiple organ donors. There was no significant difference in 1-month serum creatinine nadir of surviving grafts (2.1 +/- 1.8 versus 1.9 +/- 1.7 mg. per dl.), 6-month serum creatinine level (1.7 +/- 0.8 versus 1.6 +/- 0.6 mg. per dl.), 12-month serum creatinine level (1.8 +/- 0.9 versus 1.6 +/- 0.6 mg. per dl.) and 5-year actuarial graft survival (44.8 +/- 4.1 versus 52.4 +/- 7.5%), with the community hospital data presented first. The delayed graft function rate was significantly higher in the recipients of cadaver kidney grafts retrieved by community hospital teams (54 versus 35%), which was reduced by the in situ flush technique. There was no significant difference in delayed graft function rate (48 versus 40%) for the 114 cadaver kidney transplants retrieved from multiple organ donors by either community hospital or transplant center teams. With continuing education and quality control, community hospital retrieval teams can provide kidneys satisfactory for transplantation, even when working with multiple organ retrieval teams.

The Goodwin sound: an aid in treating obliterated membranous urethral strictures endoscopically.

The treatment options for a man with obliteration of the membranous urethra are many today because of the great progress that has been made in the past 40 years. No one procedure is likely to be ideal for all situations. Pullthrough, two-stage scrotal inlay, and transpubic or perineal approaches can be applied with success. Endoscopic treatment can also be used with satisfactory results and less morbidity in selected patients. A failed endoscopic attempt should not interfere with a subsequent open procedure. Conversely, a failed open procedure may be remedied by endoscopic surgery. We feel our technique is simpler than other reported endoscopic techniques, as it requires only one urologist, and it does not require fluoroscopy or endoscopy from above. Significantly, it provides a guide to cut on that relieves the fear of inadvertent incision into the rectum.

Acute lumbosacral plexopathy in diabetic women after renal transplantation.

Renal transplantation is an accepted treatment for patients with end stage renal disease from insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Acute lumbosacral plexopathy developed following renal transplantation in 4 female patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus between January 1, 1981 and June 30, 1988. In all 4 patients the internal iliac artery was used for revascularization of the renal allograft with ligation of the anterior and posterior divisions. Within 24 hours of surgery they complained of ipsilateral buttock pain, numbness in the leg and weakness below the knee. This complication has not been observed in nondiabetic patients at our institution, nor in diabetic patients when the internal iliac artery was not used. However, lumbosacral plexopathy occurred in 4 of 27 (14.8%) female patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus when the internal iliac artery was used (p less than 0.001). Age, duration of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cigarette smoking history and kidney donor were not significant predictors of this complication. This unusual and newly recognized complication appears to result from ischemia of the lumbosacral plexus following ligation of the internal iliac artery in patients with severe small vessel disease.

Bilateral ureteral stricture from polyarteritis nodosa.

A case of bilateral, asynchronous ureteral stricture from polyarteritis nodosa is described. Two cases of unilateral ureteral stricture from polyarteritis nodosa have been reported previously. Ureteral obstruction not associated with retroperitoneal fibrosis is rare with polyarteritis nodosa.

Time-related recurrence rates in patients with upper tract transitional cell carcinoma.

Disagreement exists about the necessity and frequency of contrast medium imaging of the upper urinary tract in patients with transitional cell carcinoma. During a 10-year period 39 patients were treated for upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma. There were 3 contralateral recurrences in 33 patients treated by nephroureterectomy for the initial lesion. Of 4 patients treated initially by segmental ureterectomy or partial renal pelvectomy 1 had an ipsilateral recurrence 3 years later. Two patients with bilateral upper tract transitional cell carcinoma were treated by simple nephrectomy combined with simultaneous contralateral segmental ureterectomy or renal pelvectomy. Both patients had no evidence of recurrent tumor after 4 years of followup. Of the 39 patients with upper tract transitional cell carcinoma 6 had multiple bladder tumors or carcinoma in situ documented on biopsy before the development of an upper tract tumor. The interval between the treatment for the last bladder tumor or carcinoma in situ was 1 year in 4 patients, 2 1/2 years in 1 and 5 years in 1. Of these 6 patients 2 had bilateral upper tract tumor occurring at different times. Both patients had multiple bladder tumors diagnosed between the development of each upper tract lesion. Annual contrast medium imaging of the upper urinary tract is recommended in patients who have had multiple bladder tumors and in those who have undergone treatment for upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma.

Preservation of 32 human kidneys by simple cold storage for more than 48 hours.

Transplant centers are reluctant to use kidneys stored cold for more than 48 hours. During a 6-year interval we transplanted 32 kidneys preserved by intracellular electrolyte flushing that were stored cold for 48.2 to 61.4 hours. Of the recipients 91 per cent required dialysis within 1 week after transplantation. The mean serum creatinine nadir within 1 month was 3.0 mg. per dl. and graft survival at 1 month was 81 per cent. Short-term kidney graft function was not influenced significantly by the addition of magnesium sulfate to the flush solutions or by cyclosporin immunosuppression. The 1 and 2-year actuarial kidney graft survival rates were 72 and 58 per cent, respectively. The 1 and 2-year mean serum creatinine levels were 1.9 and 1.6 mg. per dl., respectively. Kidneys can be transplanted successfully after 48 hours of simple cold storage following flushing with an ice-cold intracellular electrolyte solution.

Renal transplantation in Saudi Arabia.

One-year actuarial patient and graft survivals of 98% and 95% were obtained. Donor-specific transfusions were widely used in both the living-related donor kidney recipients as well as recipients of kidneys from distantly and unrelated individuals. The underlying health problems that are still endemic to this region will probably be reflected to a greater extent in longer term follow-up.

Schistosomiasis and renal transplantation.

Schistosomiasis was discovered in 4 recipients and 12 donors during evaluation for 67 consecutive live related renal transplants. All participants with schistosomiasis were treated with anti-schistosomal chemotherapy preoperatively. No complications were seen in the 4 recipients, including 2 with schistosomal-induced calcifications of the bladder. One donor returned to an endemic area and became reinfected with slight progression of distal ureteral dilatation. Cystoscopy with biopsy is more sensitive in the detection of infection than ultrasonography, excretory urography or urinalysis but structural changes are assessed by excretory urography. Although schistosomiasis is not an absolute contraindication for renal transplantation, potential live kidney donors with proved anatomical changes in the urinary tract should be excluded.

Experience with parallel incision extravesical ureteroneocystostomy in renal transplantation.

A total of 43 consecutive renal transplant patients underwent extravesical ureteroneocystostomy via a parallel incision. The only urological complication (ureteral obstruction from a blood clot) did not appear to be related to this recently described technique. There were no instances of urinary leakage, extrinsic ureteral obstruction or reflux. This simplified technique of ureteroneocystostomy seems well suited to the special challenges presented by renal transplant patients.