Ureteral inguinoscrotal hernia recurrence following robotic hernia repair: an uncommon hernia recurrence.

Ureteral inguinoscrotal hernias are a rare occurrence and commonly occur without evidence of obstructive uropathy. We present a patient found on a preoperative CT scan to have a recurrent left inguinal hernia with the left ureter passing through the hernia defect adjacent to the hernia sac into the scrotum. At surgery the redundant dilated ureter required a ureteroureterostomy because it could not be safely straightened or reduced. Preoperative imaging allowed for identification of the ureter in the hernia sac and allowed for extensive preoperative planning with the urology team, and efficient definitive treatment of his condition at the time of surgery.

Our ACE in the HOLE: Justifying the Use of Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Inhibitors as Adjuvants to Standard Chemotherapy.

Angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been very effective in treating cardiac hypertension since their clinical inception over four decades ago. Since then, it has been established that angiotensin II, the product of ACE, has oncogenic and pro-proliferative qualities, which begs the question as to whether ACE inhibitors may have oncolytic characteristics. In fact, scattered reports suggest that ACE inhibitors are oncolytic and oncopreventive, but the available literature has yet to be thoroughly examined. In the present review, we examine the available literature and determine that ACE inhibitors would have great utility in the prevention and treatment of cancer. At the same time, they would augment the efficacy of chemo- and radiotherapy as well as mitigating damage to healthy tissue by standard chemotherapeutic regimens. We review some of the mounting clinical evidence and show that ACE inhibitors have oncolytic activity in multiple types of cancer and discuss the ability of ACE inhibitors to prevent cardiotoxicity of multiple chemotherapies. Our analysis demonstrates that the actions of ACE inhibitors converge on vascular endolthelial growth factor to reduce its levels in tumors and prevent construction of blood vessels to masses, leaving them nutrient-depleted and subsequently hindering their growth. Given that ACE inhibitors are approved by the Federal Drug Administration and the therapeutic dose for hypertension treatment also slows the growth of multiple cancers types, ACE inhibitors are in a perfect position to be repurposed as oncolytic agents, that would widely increase their utility in the clinic.