[Preoperative imaging in 78 living kidney donors using CE-MRA and DSA]. / Donor-Evaluation vor Lebendnierenspende: Vergleich von CE-MRA und DSA an 78 Patienten.

PURPOSE: To evaluate contrast-enhanced 3D magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in comparison with the intraoperative findings in living kidney donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 156 kidneys in 78 potential kidney donors were prospectively examined using CE-MRA (0.2 mmol Gd/kg, voxel size 1.3 x 0.8 x 2.0) and DSA. Two experienced radiologists assessed the images in consensus regarding the renal vascular anatomy and variants. The results for the 67 candidates accepted for donation were compared to the intraoperative findings. In the other kidneys not accepted for donor nephrectomy, MRA and DSA were compared with each other. RESULTS: Nineteen arterial variants were identified intraoperatively, of which 11 (58%) were also detected by preoperative CE-MRA and 10 (53%) by preoperative DSA. Of the 10 venous variants found intraoperatively, CE-MRA detected 8 (80%) and DSA 3 (30%). The agreement (kappa test) between MRI and DSA for all 156 evaluated kidneys was 0.7 for arterial variants (McNemar p=0.12) and 0.3 for venous variants (McNemar p=0.01). The preoperative choice of kidney (right or left) made on the basis of the renal vascular anatomy seen on CE-MRA and DSA differed in 22% of the 78 potential donors (McNemar p=0.3). CONCLUSION: Our results in a large group of potential living kidney donors suggest that CE-MRA and DSA are comparable for detecting arterial renal variants while CE-MRA is superior for identifying venous variants. The preoperative choice of transplant kidney was not significantly influenced by the different results of CE-MRA and DSA.

[Urological problems in patients with meningomyelocele. Diagnostic studies and management]. / Urologischer Erkrankungen bei Patienten mit Meningomyelozele. Diagnostik und Management.

Since the 1980s the management of children and adolescents with meningomyelocele has undergone major changes. The introduction of pharmacotherapy with antimuscarinic agents, clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) and antibacterial prophylaxis has revolutionized the management of children with neurogenic bladder. The co-operation between neonatologists, neurosurgeons, paediatric neurologists, paediatricians, paediatric urologists, paediatric nephrologists, paediatric orthopaedists and paediatric surgeons is necessary to achieve an optimized therapy in each individual patient. In this interdisciplinary consensus paper we provide definitions and classifications as well as a timetable for the appropriate investigations. The conservative and surgical options are explained in detail. A short review is given concerning orthopaedic management, incidence of latex allergy, options for bowel management, diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections, problems with sexuality and fertility as well as the long-term compliance of these patients and their relatives.

Delays in diagnosis and therapy of gastric cancer and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: In the past, there were long delays in the diagnosis of patients with cancer of the stomach or esophagus. The objective of this study was to describe current delays in the diagnosis and treatment of gastric and esophageal adenocarcinoma and to compare the findings with those from an historical control population treated at the same institutions 10 years earlier. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with biopsy-proven gastric cancer or esophageal adenocarcinoma who were treated at two academic medical centers in Germany between April and October 2003 were consecutively screened for eligibility to take part in the study. Medical charts for each patient were reviewed. Additional data were obtained via structured interviews. Main outcome measures were the total delay, and the delays related to patients themselves, to doctors, and to the hospital. Data were compared with those from a historic control group assessed in 1993. RESULTS: The median total delay for patients with gastric cancer (n = 104) was 3.5 months (range 0.3 - 29.6), and in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma (n = 22) the total delay was significantly shorter (median 2.2 months, range 1.2 - 11.7; P < 0.05). Comparing these findings with those from an historic cohort of patients with gastric cancer (n = 100) revealed a significant decrease in the total delay (3.5 versus 8.0 months, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The current findings indicate that delays in the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer have become significantly shorter within the last 10 years as our understanding of and ability to treat this form of cancer have improved.

Laparoscopic versus open donor nephrectomy in Germany: impact on donor health-related quality of life and willingness to donate.

INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy (LDN) offers multiple advantages to the donor. Since 1999 LDN has become the only surgical approach for living kidney donation in our department. To our knowledge a donor health-related quality of life (QoL) has not yet been performed with standardized and validated questionnaires to compare laparoscopic with open nephrectomy. We therefore performed a study with two questionnaires (SF-36/GBB-24) and one set of open questions for all donors in our department. METHODS: Questionnaires were sent out to all donors between 1983 and 2001 with at least a 1-year follow-up. To exclude a bias a maximum response rate was sought; donors who did not answer were recontacted as well as their recipients or their physicians to motivate them for participation. RESULTS: The response rate was (89.8%). Except for less limb pain in the laparoscopy group, no difference could be detected for donors QoL with respect to the surgical method. Willingness to donate again was not affected by the surgical method. Nevertheless if asked again today, most donors want laparoscopic kidney retrieval. CONCLUSIONS: Donors health-related QoL is not affected by the surgical method when queried retrospectively. Nevertheless, most donors today would favor laparoscopy, if they could chose again. How laparoscopy affects a reluctant donor to step forward must be determined in a prospective study.

[Eugen Rehfish--pioneer of modern urodynamics]. / Eugen Rehfisch-Pionier der modernen Urodynamik.

Eugen Rehfisch published two important articles on vesical sphincter function and innervation of the bladder in the Archives of Pathologic Anatomy, Physiology and Clinical Medicine edited by R. Virchow in 1897 and 1900. A figure from his first urodynamic article (1897) became well known in the urodynamic literature. It shows the first simultaneous registration of vesical pressure and urinary volume in a human. Eugen Rehfisch's ingenious experimental design for examining the process of micturition has remained to this day. For this reason, the board of the Forum Urodynamicum, a registered society in Germany, named its innovation prize donated by the Pfizer company after Eugen Rehfisch. Eugen Rehfisch was born in Kempen/Posen on March 6 1862. He studied at the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin and at the Bavarian Julius Maximilian University in Wurzburg. From approximately 1889, he worked as a physician in Berlin and was a co-worker of Leopold Casper (1859-1959) for some time. He performed his important urodynamic studies at the Institute of Physiology of the Friedrich Wilhelms University between 1896 and 1900. After this, he turned to cardiology. Besides articles on urology, he published papers on psychiatry and cardiology. He was an active member of medical societies in Berlin and was awarded the title of a professor. Eugen Rehfisch died on October 7, 1937 in Berlin. His grave is in the cemetery of the Jewish congregation in Berlin Weissensee. The Eugen Rehfisch innovation prize is an expression of our admiration.

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.

Laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (LDN) has removed disincentives of potential donors and may bear the potential to increase kidney donation. Multiple modifications have been made to abbreviate the learning curve while at the same time guarantee the highest possible level of medical quality for donor and recipient. We reviewed the literature for the evolution of the different LDN techniques and their impact on donor, graft and operating surgeon, including the subtleties of different surgical accesses, vessel handling and organ extraction. We performed a literature search (PubMed, DIMDI, medline) to evaluate the development of the LDN techniques from 1995 to 2003. Today more than 200 centres worldwide perform LDN. Hand-assistance has led to a spread of LDN. Studies comparing open and hand-assisted LDN show a reduction of operating and warm ischaemia times for the hand-assisted LDN. Different surgical access sites (trans- or retroperitoneal), different vessel dissection approaches, donor organ delivery techniques, delivery sites and variations of hand-assistance techniques reflect the evolution of LDN. Proper techniques and their combination for the consecutive surgical steps minimize both warm ischaemia time and operating time while offering the donor a safe minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure. LDN has breathed new life into the moribund field of living kidney donation. Within a few years LDN could become the standard approach in living kidney donation. Surgeons working in this field must be trained thoroughly and well acquainted with the subtleties of the different LDN techniques and their respective advantages and disadvantages.

[Kidney donors and kidney transplantation in the elderly]. / Nierenspende und Nierentransplantation im Alter.

The likelihood of terminal renal insufficiency escalates with age, increasing the risk of dying as a patient requiring dialysis. In 1999, Eurotransplant initiated the Eurotransplant Senior Programm (ESP), in which the kidneys of old donors (>64 years) are allocated to recipients 64 years and older. Allocation does not take HLA-matching into account and is performed regionally only according to blood-group-compatibility to keep the storage time short. As a consequence of the short ischemic time, and thus reduced non-immunological damage to the anyways susceptible old kidney, graft-function and graft-survival in the ESP are very good. The results of the initial 5 years of this program show that it successfully utilizes more kidneys from old donors and that more old recipients are being transplanted, with a satisfactory graft-function. Increased donor- and/or recipient age require a thorough evaluation to exclude malignant and other diseases. Furthermore, short term controls on the waiting list and following kidney transplantation are prerequisites for successful transplantation in the aged recipient. If this is guaranteed, kidney transplantation in the old recipient-even with old donor organs-is a good alternative to the morbidity of a prolonged dialysis. Nevertheless, the role of HLA-matching should be reconsidered to reduce rejections.

[Diagnostics of functional bladder disorders in children]. / Abklärung kindlicher Blasenfunktionsstörungen.

Functional bladder disorders are one of the most frequent urinary disorders in children. Today, we strictly differentiate enuresis from pediatric urinary incontinence. In most cases, these classifications will be achieved with non-invasive, primary diagnostic procedures. In monosymptomatic enuresis, further invasive examinations are not necessary. However, in pediatric urinary incontinence invasive diagnostic tools such as video-urodynamic studies are mandatory for a correct classification. Recently established guidelines on the diagnostic procedures for the evaluation of pediatric bladder disorders will help to standardize the diagnostic work-up.

[Evaluation and follow-up of living kidney donors]. / Evaluation und Nachbetreuung von Lebendnierenspendern.

An increase in waiting time for a cadaveric organs and a better graft-function, graft- and patient-survival with kidneys from a living donors have lead to an increase in living-donor renal transplantation in the therapy of end-stage renal disease. In Germany, with the implementation of a transplantation law in 1997 and due to improved surgical techniques (laparoscopy) the proportion of living renal donors has almost tripled during the last five years. The transplantation law also names the potential donors, including not only genetically related but also emotionally related donors. Inclusion criteria for living donation are age > 18 years, mental ability to give consent and an altruistic motivation (exclusion of financial benefits for the donor). If ABO blood group compatibility between donor and recipient is given and a cross match does not reveal immunologic obstacles a thorough medical and psychological examination must be performed with the potential donor. All risk factors for the donor beyond the actual operation must be excluded. Therefore all organ-systems have to be evaluated and risks for the donor as well as transferable pathologies and infections must be ruled out. International guidelines help to perform an efficient evaluation. Following organ donation the donor should be medically controlled as requested by law. Also, psychological counselling should be offered. The aim is to minimize risks for the single kidney and to recognize early potentially kidney damaging affections.

[Bladder dysfunction and surgery in the small pelvis. Therapeutic possibilities]. / Blasendysfunktion und Operationen im kleinen Becken.Therapiemöglichkeiten.

The more extensive a surgical procedure in a small pelvis, the higher the risk for the lower urinary tract with its nerve supply and nerve plexus. This concerns mainly the sympathetic chains, the parasympathetic structures and, rarely, the visceral supply of the pelvic floor. Direct trauma to the bladder and its vascular supply as well as indirect injury by displacement of the bladder need to be seriously considered. Problems with micturition and impaired storage capacity of the bladder are the result. Complete urodynamic examination and follow-up can help in differentiating between temporary and persisting disturbances and in taking therapeutical decisions. The most evident postoperative complication is disturbed micturition, managed initially by suprapubic urinary diversion, followed as soon as possible by intermittent self-catheterisation. This is the only way to avoid overstretching of the bladder, recurring urinary tract infection and damage to the upper urinary tract. Restoration of spontaneous micturition can be supported by drug treatment with parasympatholytics and/or alpha-blockers if the measured bladder pressure and residual urine are within tolerable limits. For electrostimulation of micturition, intravesical therapy, although timeconsuming, is best suited because it can easily be done on an outpatient basis. More promising seems bilateral sacral neuromodulation, which, however, is a rather complicated and expensive procedure. Surgical procedures to reduce the voiding resistance of the bladder involve the risk of postoperative incontinence because the sphincter function in those patients is often disturbed too. Persisting problems with bladder storage capacity as a result of tumor surgery in the small pelvis are frequently secondary to retention of urine (overflow incontinence). In these cases, regular evacuation of the bladder by intermittent self-catheterisation can lead to social acceptance. Reduced bladder compliance and lowering of the urethral leak pressure point may result in stress and urge incontinence, which, according to the established rules, should be managed by physiotherapy and behaviour therapy as well as drug therapy and only in exceptional cases by surgical measures. Prevention of postoperative bladder dysfunction can be tried by tissue- and nerve-sparing surgical techniques, but is always determined by oncological aspects.

[Overactive bladder--which diagnosis investigations are necessary before initiating primary treatment?]. / Die überaktive Blase ("Overactive Bladder Syndrome"). Welche Diagnostik ist vor Beginn der Primärtherapie notwendig?

The symptom complex of frequency and urgency with or without urge incontinence is termed overactive bladder (OAB) according to the new definition by the International Continence Society. The background for this change in definition is the great economic and social importance of the disease, the rising costs in medicine, and the tendency to develop the simplest possible therapeutic strategies. Therapy consists of the administration of an anticholinergic/spasmolytic drug for at least 3 months. Although a great percentage of patients with OAB can be clinically identified, the required exclusion of "local pathologic and metabolic factors" calls for a minimal diagnostic program to come to fairly exact findings. This includes a detailed case history with standardized and evaluated questionnaires, a bladder diary, detailed clinical examination, urine analysis consisting of microscopic and microbiologic examination, uroflowmetry including measurement of residual urine, and examination of the kidneys and the upper urinary tract (determination of creatine and sonography). Minimally invasive tests to improve validity regarding obstruction and detrusor overactivity are being developed. These tests are intended to make an invasive pressure-flow study unnecessary. However, using the above-described minimal diagnostic program, one has to take into account that patients suffering from complaints without underlying idiopathic detrusor overactivity and with urgency/urge incontinence due to bladder outlet obstruction are referred for primary therapy with anticholinergic/antispastic drugs. In cases of neurologic signs, pathologic urinary findings, reduced urinary flow rate with residual urine, and problems of the upper urinary tract, further diagnostic studies are necessary. In any case, such patients need not undergo primary therapy on the basis of a clinical diagnosis. An ex iuvantibus therapy with anticholinergic drugs--even if limited to 3 months--is not acceptable if the diagnostic minimal program is not used.

[Laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty with Anderson-Hynes technique]. / Die laparoskopische Nierenbeckenplastik mit Kontinuitätstrennung nach Anderson-Hynes.

Because of the minimal invasiveness of the laparoscopic approach, we introduced the laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty in our treatment modalities for patients with primary UPJ obstruction. We report on our technique and the results after a median follow-up of more than 2 years. Between August 1997 and September 2002, 52 patients underwent a laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty at our institution. All patients had a symptomatic primary PJ obstruction. We prefer the transperitoneal route with laterocolic exposure of the kidney. After preparation and exposure of the ureter and the renal pelvis, we performed in each case the dismembered Anderson-Hynes pyeloplasty with resection of the pelvis and reanastomosis between the ureter and renal pelvis. Intracorporeal suturing and knotting techniques were used exclusively. All procedures could be performed successfully. In no case was conversion to open surgery necessary. The mean operative time was 180 min. Crossing vessels were present in 57% of patients. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 4 days. The first patient had an anastomosis insufficiency, which required laparoscopic repair. The same patient failed in the follow-up. He developed a late recurrence of the stenosis and needed an open repair. In all other patients the obstruction was resolved or significantly improved. The long-term success rate is 98% with a follow-up of 25 months. Our results with laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasties compare favorably with those achieved by open pyeloplasties with less perioperative morbidity and discomfort. We do believe that laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty will be the method of choice in the treatment of UPJ obstruction.

[Laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy of kidneys with multiple renal vessels]. / Multiple Nierengefässe bei der laparoskopischen Lebendnierenspende.

Due to the increasing waiting time for transplantation of a cadaveric kidney, living donor kidney transplantation is an increasingly oncoming issue. Laparoscopic donor nephrectomies (LDN) have been performed since 1995 and presently more than 100 transplant centers offer this minimally invasive surgical approach. The advantages for the donor of less pain, shorter hospital stay, earlier return to work, better cosmetic results in combination with an organ function equal to open donor nephrectomy are the reasons for an enormous increase in LDN. Since up to 30% of the donor kidneys have multiple vessels for blood supply, an increase of these organs for LDN can be expected. We performed a retrospective study of LDN at our center and compared donors with multiple vs single vessel supply. From February 1999 to September 2002, 63 LDN were performed at the department of Urology, Charité University Hospital, Berlin. A comparison between 18 donor kidneys with multiple vessel supply and 45 donor organs with single vessels showed no difference for the time of laparoscopic explantation (207 vs 201 min, p=0.4) or the warm (166 vs 148 s, p=0.2) and cold ischemic times (117 vs 103 min, p=0.66). As could be expected, the mixed ischemic time, i.e., the time for anastomosis of the kidney with the recipient's vessels, showed a significant difference (53 vs 46 min, p=0.02). Intra- and postoperative complication rates for donors and recipients were not different in both groups. Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy for kidneys with multiple vessels is feasible and safe for donor and recipient.