York-Mason procedure for repair of recto-urinary fistulae: a 40-year experience.

OBJECTIVE: To review the use of the York-Mason transanal, transrectal procedure, used in properly selected patients over a 40-year period, for repairing recto-urinary fistulae. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients who underwent acquired recto-urethral or rectovesical fistula repair at our institution. A total of 51 patients have undergone York-Mason recto-urinary fistula repair at our institution during this time. RESULTS: Since our last report in 2003, we have performed this procedure an additional 27 times. We continue to have good results, with 25 of these patients having resolution of their fistulae after one procedure. Failures in the updated cohort were radiation-induced fistulae. We continue to find no evidence of faecal incontinence or stenosis after this procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Over a period of 40 years, the York-Mason posterior, transanal, transrectal correction of iatrogenic recto-urinary fistula has been highly successful, reliable and safe, when used for fistulae occurring after prostate surgery. Preliminary faecal diversion can often be avoided in selected patients.

Risk stratification for positive lymph nodes in prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the risk of positive lymph nodes using preoperative clinical parameters. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We reviewed our prospectively collected database for all patients who received RRP and PLND between January 1993 and November 2005 as primary therapy for prostate cancer. We excluded patients who had hormonal ablation or radiation therapy prior to surgery and patients with missing PSA, clinical stage, or biopsy Gleason score. We evaluated risk for nodal disease using the following definitions: low risk: PSA or=T(2b), or Gleason score of 7; and high risk: PSA >or=20 ng/mL, or clinical stage >or=T(2c), or Gleason score >or=8. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between the risk groups and pathologic lymph node involvement, and a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the performance of the stratification scheme in detecting nodal disease. RESULTS: A total of 760 patients with 43 (5.7%) patients with node-positive disease were available for analysis. Risk classification was significantly associated with positive nodes (P<0.001), even after controlling for year of surgery and age. The area under the ROC curve was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.69, 0.83). Omitting PLND in the low-risk group would have spared 368 (49.2%) of the entire cohort with a false-negative rate of 5/369 (1.3%) for the low-risk group, and 5/760 (0.7%) for the entire cohort. Sensitivity was 88.4%, and negative predictive value was 98.7%. CONCLUSION: Patients can be risk stratified for node-positive disease and potentially excluded from lymphadenectomy with minimal risk.

Isolated seminal vesicle invasion imparts better outcomes after radical retropubic prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer: prognostic stratification of pt3b disease by nodal and margin status.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the survival differences in men with seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) according to surgical margin (SM) and nodal (N) status to characterize the influence of isolated SVI on disease progression after radical retropubic prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer. METHODS: We reviewed the records of 941 men who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer between 1984 and 2002. Three groups with evidence of SVI (SM-/N-, SM+/N-, and N+) were analyzed to identify differences in age, preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, biopsy Gleason score, surgical Gleason score, time to PSA progression, follow-up time, and cancer-specific and overall survival. Kaplan-Meier estimates and univariate and multivariate calculations were generated to examine differences in biochemical-free survival. RESULTS: Of 941 patients, 87 were identified with SVI; of these, 28 (32.2%) were SM-/N-, 35 (40.2%) were SM+/N-, and 24 (27.6%) were N+. The median follow-up for all patients was 70 months. The 5-year biochemical progression-free rate for SM-/N-, SM+/N-, and N+ patients was 71.9%, 36.6%, and 25.9%, respectively. The median time to PSA progression for SM-/N-, SM+/N-, and N+ patients was 26, 16, and 6 months, respectively. The clinical stage, pretreatment PSA level, and margin and node status were statistically predictive (P < 0.05) on univariate analyses; however, only positive margin status approached statistical significance on multivariate analysis (P = 0.06). The overall and cancer-specific 5-year survival rates for SM-/N-, SM+/N-, and N+ patients were 89% and 100%, 79% and 97%, and 78% and 86%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Isolated SVI is associated with lower rates of, and longer intervals to, biochemical failure compared with SVI with positive margins and/or regional lymph node involvement.

Biochemical failure in men following radical retropubic prostatectomy: impact of surgical margin status and location.

PURPOSE: The significance of isolated positive apical surgical margins in radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) specimens remains controversial. We examine the effects of margin status and location on biochemical recurrence rates in patients undergoing RRP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of 800 patients with RRP we identified 498 without pathological evidence of lymph node, seminal vesicle or adjacent organ involvement and with at least 6 months of followup. Patients were subdivided into apex only positive (AM+), nonapical isolated positive (OM+), multiple positive (MM+) and negative (SM-) surgical margins. The rate and interval to biochemical disease recurrence were determined in each group. Univariate and multivariate analysis as well as Kaplan-Meier curves were used to test differences among these groups. RESULTS: Of the 498 men who met our inclusion criteria 400 were SM-, 28 were AM+, 57 were OM+ and 13 were MM+ at a median followup of 49, 59, 64 and 83 months, respectively. Biochemical recurrence rates for SM-, AM+, OM+ and MM+ were 9.3%, 21.4%, 26.3% and 30.8%, respectively. Median time to biochemical failure in the SM-, AM+, OM+ and MM+ groups was 34, 19.5, 46.0 and 6.8 months, respectively. Biochemical recurrence was not statistically different among the AM+, OM+ and MM+ groups. On univariate analysis AM+, OM+ and MM+ were significant predictors of recurrence (p < 0.05, < 0.005, and <0.05, respectively). On multivariate models only pretreatment prostate specific antigen and OM+ were independent predictors of biochemical recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: A positive surgical margin conveys increased risk for biochemical recurrence. Patients with AM+ experienced biochemical recurrence more frequently and rapidly than those with SM-. AM+ conveys a similar risk of recurrence compared with OM+ and MM+. Apical margin status did not independently predict biochemical recurrence.

30 years of experience with York-Mason repair of recto-urinary fistulas.

PURPOSE: Recto-urinary fistula formation is a rare occurrence, usually following surgery or another intervention for prostatic disease. Spontaneous closure is rarely successful and reconstructive procedures are usually performed. We report our experience in the last 30 years with modified York-Mason repair. To our knowledge our series of 24 patients is the largest reported using this approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients who underwent acquired rectourethral or rectovesical fistula repair at our institution. A total of 24 patients underwent York-Mason recto-urinary fistula repair, 18 fistulas occurred secondary to prostatic surgery and 11 patients underwent 1-stage repair without preoperative urinary or fecal diversion. RESULTS: Overall 22 of the 24 fistulas were repaired successfully using the York-Mason approach. One patient required a repeat York-Mason procedure and another required a perineal incision to correct recurrence. All except 1 fistula were eventually surgically corrected. No fecal incontinence or anal stenosis developed. The fistula involved the bladder and urethra in 11 and 13 cases, respectively. Procedure time was less than 2 hours. Blood loss was 50 to 400 cc. No transfusions were required. CONCLUSIONS: York-Mason repair of recto-urinary fistula is an excellent approach to a rare and often confounding surgical complication. It provides nice exposure through unscarred planes and allows adequate closure. The success rate is excellent compared with that of other reported techniques. Postoperative recovery is rapid with minimal morbidity.