Comparison of the results of pediatric percutaneous nephrolithotomy with different sized instruments.

We aim to compare the outcomes, including the morbidity and success rates in children undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) using different sized devices. According to the size of instruments used during surgery, three different groups (ultra-mini-PCNL, mini-PCNL and adult size PCNL) were composed and the outcomes were compared between the groups. PCNL was applied to 225 renal units of 220 children, including 5 patients with bilateral kidney stones. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy was performed using adult instruments (24 F) in 82 renal units, using pediatric instruments (18 F) in 89 and using minimal-size instruments (9.5 F) in 50. One-hundred and twenty-four girls and 96 boys with a mean age of 8.33 (<17) years were assessed. Stone-free rates were 78 % in group 1 (n = 39) using 9.5 F nephroscope, 75.8 % in group 2 (n = 69) using 18 F nephroscope and 71.4 % in group 3 (n = 60) using 24 F nephroscope. Time to access the collecting system, operative time, duration of nephrostomy and average postoperative hospital stay did not differ between the groups. However, mean hematocrit drop and stone burden were significantly lesser in ultra-mini-PCNL group. There was no significant difference in the complication rates between the groups, according to the modified Clavien classification system. As the important complication of PCNL, bleeding seems to be associated with diameter of dilatation, calibre of nephroscopes and stone burden. To reduce the certain complications, pediatric type of instruments is suitable but the use of adult instruments and techniques may achieve equal results.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy in children with pediatric and adult-sized instruments.

OBJECTIVE: Pediatric stone disease is a significant health issue which has increased in incidence because of lifestyle changes, dietary habits, and obesity. The incidence of urolithiasis among pediatric age groups varies according to region and is high in Turkey. The management of stone disease in children has improved dramatically over the last two decades. The high success rate of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) have led modern researchers to suggest that it be used as a first-line treatment of kidney stones greater than 2 cm in size. This study compared the outcomes, including morbidity and success rates, of different groups of pediatric patients who underwent PNL via pediatric- and adult-sized instruments. METHODS: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy was performed in 194 children in a clinical setting between the years 2000 and 2015. Patients were categorized into 2 groups (group 1: pediatric-sized devices used, n = 90 [46.4%]; group 2: adult-sized devices used, n = 104 [53.6%]). The children in group 2 were further divided into subgroups: a 24 F nephroscope was used for group 2a (n = 84 [43.3%]) and a 26 F nephroscope was used for group 2b (n = 20 [10.3%]) (Figure). RESULTS: For this study, a total of 194 pediatric patients (99 boys and 95 girls ranging from 8 months to 17 years of age, with a mean age of 9.43 years) underwent PNL for the removal of kidney stones in a clinical setting. Between the examined groups, there were no significant differences in patient height or weight, stone site or localization, pre- and post-operative creatinine levels, duration of nephrostomy, or hospitalization time. There was also no significant variation in minor complications such as fever or urinary infection. However, the stone burden was notably smaller in the group wherein pediatric-sized nephroscopes were used. Additionally, the incidence of hemorrhage was markedly lower in groups where a 17 F nephroscope was used than in groups where treatment was administered via 24 and 26 F nephroscopes. CONCLUSIONS: Stone disease is considered to be relatively rare in childhood, but recent studies have indicated that it presents a considerable health problem. According to some researchers, a decrease in instrument size has not meaningfully reduced complication rates. In contrast, some studies have reported that the use of smaller sized nephroscopes may reduce rates of morbidity and mortality. In this study, success rates of PNL were similar across all groups, regardless of nephroscope size. However, the use of a 17 F nephroscope significantly decreased the rate of hematocrit level reduction (p < 0.001). While instrument size does not affect the success of PNL, smaller instruments can be used to reduce various complications such as bleeding.

Importance of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in prediction of PSA recurrence after radical prostatectomy.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to research the importance of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in prediction of PSA recurrence after radical prostatectomy, which has not been reported so far. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of 175 patients who were diagnosed with localised prostate cancer and underwent retropubic radical prostatectomy was retrospectively examined. Patient pre-operative hemogram parameters of neutrophil count, lymphocyte count and NLR were assessed. The patients whose PSAs were too low to measure after radical prostatectomy in their follow-ups, and then had PSAs of 0,2 ng/mL were considered as patients with PSA recurrence. Patients with recurrence made up Group A and patients without recurrence made up Group B. RESULTS: In terms of the power of NLR value in distinguishing recurrence, the area under OCC was statistically significant (p<0.001) .The value of 2.494 for NLR was found to be a cut-off value which can be used in order to distinguish recurrence according to Youden index. According to this, patients with a higher NLR value than 2.494 had higher rates of PSA recurrence with 89.7% sensitivity and 92.6% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: There are certain parameters used in order to predict recurrence with today's literature data.We think that because NLR is easy to use in clinics and inexpensive, and also has high sensitivity and specificity values, it has the potential to be one of the parameters used in order to predict biochemical recurrence in future.

Comparison of renal function after donor and radical nephrectomy.

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is directly proportionate to nephron reserves. In this respect, it is known that the patients who underwent radical nephrectomy due to renal tumor are under high risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the long term. In this study, it was aimed to compare post-operative renal functions of patients who underwent radical nephrectomy due to renal malignancy and who underwent donor nephrectomy as renal donors, to observe whether renal failure process develops or not, and to determine the factors that affect post-operative renal functions. 70 patients who underwent donor nephrectomy as renal donors and 130 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy due to renal tumor were studied. When we divided the groups as those with a GFR of below 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and those with a GFR of above 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2), we observed that GFR values of patients who underwent radical nephrectomy had a significantly stronger tendency to stay below 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) compared to patients who underwent donor nephrectomy (p < 0.001). When we divided the groups as those with a GFR of below 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and those with a GFR of above 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2), we observed that there were no patients in donor nephrectomy group whose GFR values dropped below 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and there was not a statistically significant difference between the groups (p = 0.099). If possible, nephron sparing methods should be preferred for patients to undergo nephrectomy because of the tumor without ignoring oncologic results and it should be remembered that patient's age and pre-operative renal functions may affect post-operative results in donor selection.

Primary Small Cell Carcinoma in Urinary Bladder: A Rare Case.

Small cell carcinoma of bladder, which does not have a common and accepted treatment protocol, is a rare and highly aggressive tumor. It is mostly pulmonary originated; however, it can rarely be seen in extrapulmonary sites. We presented an interesting and uncommon case, in which the transitional cell tumor was found in the transurethral resection specimen, but the small cell carcinoma was detected in the final radical cystectomy material.

Emphasis of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the prognostic significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio on overall survival and tumor stage in non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma. METHODS: The records of 229 patients with non-metastatic RCC (T1-4N0M0) were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were classified as group 1 (T1 + T2) and group 2 (T3 + T4). The significance of the differences between the groups in terms of averages and median values were investigated with Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney U test, respectively. RESULTS: Patients were divided in two as group 1 (T1 + T2) and group 2 (T3 + T4), consisting of 208 and 21 patients, respectively. Between the two groups, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was found as 2.83 ± 2.15 and 4.79 ± 4.65, respectively (p = 0.02). We found that NLR had a distinctive feature at a cut-off value of 2.9. DISCUSSION: NLR was higher in local advanced tumors. We observed that the cut-off value of NLR is only associated with tumor volume.

Laparoscopic pyelolithotomy in a horseshoe kidney.

The horseshoe kidney is the most frequent renal anomaly, with a prevalence of 0.25% and a male to female ratio of 2:1. In this article we aimed to report a 50-year-old man who had left kidney stones accompanied with a horseshoe kidney. In this case percutaneous nephrolithotomy was deemed to be a risky procedure due to malrotation of the pelviocalyceal system and possible interposition of bowel loops between kidney and the abdominal wall. Therefore, we preferred laparoscopic pyelolithotomy. At the end of the procedure, the patient was stone-free. We observed no complication. The patient was discharged after 72 hours. We assume that laparoscopic pyelolithotomy is a safe and effective approach for renal pelvic stone in case of horseshoe kidney.

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the prostate.

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the prostate is among the rarest malignant neoplasm types and has been well known for its aggressive clinical course. Patient was admitted with the symptoms of lower urinary tract. Transurethral resection of prostate (TUR-P) was carried out. Revealing Gleason 5 + 3 = 8 prostate adenocarcinoma in TUR-P material. Thereby, a Radical Prostatectomy procedure was planned. In operation, frozen examination revealed adenocarcinoma metastasis to the obturator lymph node. The operation was terminated. In the postoperative 3rd month, the patient was re-admitted with acute urinary system symptoms. A cystoscopy performed and complete resection of the mass was performed. The pathological examination reported that the tumor was compatible with undifferentiated adenocarcinoma owing to presence of poorly differentiated tumoral cells and detection of adenocarcinoma in a relatively small (<1%) focus. 4 month after the operation, the patient underwent another cyctoscopic examination which revealed the prostatic lounge and most of the bladder lumen to be filled with tumoral tissue. The tumoral tissues was resected incompletely. This material was diagnosed to be "Sarcomatoid Malignant Tumor" upon the new evidences of progressive dedifferentiation and predominant sarcomatoid appearance, compared with the former TUR-P materials. Subsequent PET-CT scan depicted multiple metastasis. The patient was referred to oncology department. In conclusion, sarcomatoid carcinoma is a malignant variant that brings along diagnostic and treatment difficulties.

E-cadherin gene 3'-UTR C/T polymorphism in Turkish patients with nephrolithiasis.

Nephrolithiasis is a complex disease and many gene polymorphisms have been associated with stone formation. In this study we aimed to investigate another possible relationship between E-cadherin gene (CHD1) 3'-UTR C/T polymorphism and calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis in the Turkish population. Study population was composed of 143 patients with nephrolithiasis and 158 control subjects. CHD1 3'-UTR C/T polymorphism was analysed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique. Genotype distribution of the investigated polymorphism was not deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in patients and control subjects (P > 0.05). C allele frequency was 85.7 and 85.1% in patients and controls, respectively (P = 0.836). Genotype distributions of the CHD1 3'-UTR C/T polymorphism among patients were also not significantly different from those among control subjects (P = 0.636). Our results showed that there is no association between the CHD1 gene 3'-UTR C/T polymorphism and nephrolithiasis in our population.

A HindIII polymorphism of fibronectin gene is associated with nephrolithiasis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between fibronectin gene (FN1) polymorphisms and calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis as a genetic risk factor. METHODS: Genomic DNA of 143 patients with calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis and 154 healthy controls were screened for polymorphisms (HaeIII b, MspI, and HindIII) of the FN1 gene, using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragments length polymorphism method. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between the groups. RESULTS: Although the observed differences between distribution of genotypes of AA, AB, and BB (for HaeIII b), as well as CC, CD, and DD (MspI) were not significant, FF genotype for HindIII showed significant difference when compared with both EF and EE + EF genotype (P = .00202 and P = .00203, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study revealed that HindIII polymorphism of the FN1 gene is highly associated with calcium oxalate stone disease. This association makes FN a good candidate for further studies about the etiology of stone disease, and in the future it could be a candidate marker for evaluating the genetic risks in patients with nephrolithiasis.

Heparan sulfate gene polymorphism in calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis.

Calcium oxalate (CaOx) nephrolithiasis has a complex pathogenic mechanism. Besides environmental factors, genetic factors also have influence on stone formation. This study represents the effects of heparan sulfate (HSPG2) gene polymorphism for determining the risk of urolithiasis. We investigated 143 CaOx stone formers with 158 healthy individuals for the BamHI restriction site polymorphism located in intron 6 of the HSPG gene using the polymerase chain reaction, restriction fragments length polymorphism method. After digestion with BamHI, the polymorphism was assumed to cause three genotypes according to the banding types as GG (242 bp), GT (242, 144, and 98 bp) and TT (144 and 98 bp). According to the genotype frequencies between the groups, TT genotype showed significantly increased risk for urolithiasis than TG and GG genotypes. We concluded that HSPG2 gene polymorphism might be one of the genetic factors affecting the CaOx stone formation.

Repair of hypospadiac urethral duplication with dismembered urethroplasty.

Urethral duplication is a complex and rarely seen anomaly with three anatomic variants: epispadiac (dorsal), hypospadiac (ventral) and Y-type. Here we report an 11-year-old male patient with hypospadiac urethral duplication who presented with daytime urinary incontinence and dribbling, urethral stricture and possible obstructive uropathy. After endoscopic treatment of the stricture in the ventral (dominant) urethra, urethral reconstruction was done anastomosing the ventral (dominant) and dorsal (non-dominant atretic urethra) in a dismembered fashion.

Evaluation of sexual function in women with overactive bladder syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: Of late, little data is available concerning factors affecting female sexual function. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome symptoms on female sexual function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 40 patients with OAB symptoms and 40 age-matched women as a control group were evaluated using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) for sexual function. According to the presence of urge incontinence, women with OAB were also divided into wet and dry groups. After completion of the forms, groups were compared. RESULTS: Although scores of all domains of FSFI (desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, pain and total) in the OAB group were found to be lower than in the control group, only 'desire' was found to be significantly different (p = 0.035). The FSFI scores of the OAB-dry and OAB-wet group were similar to each other. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that there is a trend toward lower sexual function scores in women with OAB compared to controls.

Parameatal cyst of urethra: a rare congenital anomaly.

We report a case of parameatal urethral cyst in a 15-year-old boy which is a very rare congenital anomaly. The cyst recognized at infancy but the boy presented to our clinic at the age of 15 when the mass was grown enough to cause spraying of urine and poor cosmesis. Complete excision of the cyst with total removal of the epithelium is the required for treatment and prevention of recurrence.