International Survey on Urodynamic Investigations in Women Undergoing Stress Urinary Incontinence Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of invasive urodynamics (UD) in women candidates for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a worldwide survey on current trends in use of preoperative invasive UD in women undergoing SUI surgery. Demographic respondents' data, whether routine invasive UD is performed before surgery and its diagnostic role were investigated. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 504 respondents: urologists 83.1%, gynecologists 16.8%. UD findings were reported influencing the surgical decision in 84.3% of the cases and may change planned surgery in 72.4%, may discourage it in 43.6%, may change surgical expectations in 55.5%, and are useful for preoperative counselling in 96.6%. We found a very low rate of routine performance of UD for uncomplicated SUI. The most impactful UD findings were related to the conditions of detrusor contractility, overactivity and underactivity. Among voiding disorders, dyssynergia was considered the most relevant dysfunction. Valsalva Leak Point Pressure was the most reported tool to investigate urethral function. The surgical management was influenced by UD findings in the vast majority of the cases, although about 60% reported that a relevant impact of the UD occurred in less than 40% of the investigations. The crucial effect of UD on surgical management was high. This finding showed that for many respondents UD still has a pivotal role before SUI surgery. CONCLUSION: This survey showed a worldwide picture on preoperative UD in SUI surgery highlighting the crucial role of UD. UD investigation influences surgical management, but whether it influences outcomes is unclear.

Is antibiotic prophylaxis still mandatory for transperineal prostate biopsy? Results of a comparative study.

Introduction and objectives: This study aimed to assess the incidence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) after transperineal prostate biopsy (TP-PB) comparing patients who underwent antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) with patients who had no prophylaxis. Materials and methods: This prospective, double-center trial was conducted between August and December 2020. Patient candidates to PB were included with 1:1 allocation to case (Group A-no AP) and control group (Group B-standard AP). All TP-PBs were performed in an outpatient setting under local anesthesia. Data collected 2 weeks after the procedure included incidence of UTIs or bacteriuria, evaluated with a urine culture (UC), main symptoms, and complications related to TP-PBs. Results: A total of 200 patients were included (100 patients in each group). The mean age was 66.2 ± 7.7 in Group A and 67.4 ± 8 years in Group B (P = 0.134). Mean prostate volume was 65.5 ± 26.7 vs. 51 ± 24.6 cc (P < 0.001), number of biopsy cores was 17.8 ± 2.4 vs. 14.9 ± 0.8 (P < 0.001), and PSA value was 15.9 ± 28.1 vs. 13.3 ± 22.3 ng/ml (P = 0.017). Overall PCa detection rate was 55% vs. 59% (P = 0.567). Postoperative UTI occurred in one patient in Group A vs. zero in Group B. Asymptomatic bacteriuria was present in 3 vs. 5 patients (P = 0.470) and was not treated with antibiotics. Postoperative hematuria was observed in 13 patients vs. 29 (P < 0.05), and acute urinary retention was observed in one patient in each group. Conclusions: The incidence of bacteriuria and UTIs in TP-PBs is not related to AP. Therefore, AP could be discontinued in TP-PB candidates without the risk of increasing UTI-related complications.

What urologists need to know about ketamine-induced uropathy: A systematic review.

AIMS: Ketamine is a general anesthetic. Dissociative effects and low cost led ketamine becoming an illegal recreational drug in young adults. Ketamine-induced uropathy (KIU) is one of the complications observed in abusers. This study aimed to provide a systematic literature review on KIU clinical presentation, pathophysiology, and treatments. METHODS: We performed the literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase using the terms ketamine and bladder. English papers on human and animal studies were accepted. RESULTS: A total of 75 papers were selected. Regular ketamine users complain about severe storage symptoms and pelvic pain. Hydronephrosis may develop in long-term abusers and is correlated to the contracted bladder, ureteral stenosis, or vesicoureteral reflux due to ureteral involvement and/or bladder fibrosis. Cystoscopy shows ulcerative cystitis. Ketamine in urine might exert direct toxicity to the urothelium, disrupting its barrier function and enhancing cell apoptosis. The presence of ketamine/ions in the bladder wall result in neurogenic/IgE-mediated inflammation, stimulation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase-cytokines-cyclooxygenase pathway with persistent inflammation and fibrosis. Abstinence is the first therapeutic step. Anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics and anticholinergics, intravesical instillation of hyaluronic acid, hydrodistension and intravesical injection of botulin toxin-A were helpful in patients with early-stage KIU. In patients with end-stage disease, the control of intractable symptoms and the increase of bladder capacity were the main recommendations to perform augmentation enterocystoplasty. CONCLUSIONS: KIU is becoming a worldwide health concern, which should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of ulcerative cystitis.

Ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy: the first application for real-time pathological examination of prostatic tissue.

OBJECTIVE: To report the first application of ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) - a novel optical technology that is capable of providing fast microscopic imaging of unfixed tissue specimens- in the urological field assessing its diagnostic accuracy for non neoplastic and cancerous prostate tissue (prostatic adenocarcinoma) compared to the 'gold standard' histopathological diagnoses. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 89 specimens from 13 patients with clinically localised prostate cancer were enrolled into the study. All patients underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy with fresh prostatic tissue biopsies taken at the end of each intervention using an 18-G biopsy punch. Specimens were randomly assigned to the three collaborating pathologists for evaluation. Intra- and inter-observer agreement was tested by the means of Cohen's κ. The diagnostic performance was evaluated on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: The overall diagnostic agreement between FCM and histopathological diagnoses was substantial with a 91% correct diagnosis (κ = 0.75) and an area under the curve of 0.884 (95% confidence interval 0.840-0.920), 83.33% sensitivity, and 93.53% specificity. CONCLUSION: FCM seems to be a promising tool for enhanced specimens' reporting performance, given its simple application and very rapid microscopic image generation (<5 min/specimen). This technique may potentially be used for intraoperative pathological specimens' analysis.

Non-conservative management of simple renal cysts in adults: a comprehensive review of literature.

INTRODUCTION: Renal cysts are common findings in nearly 10% of general population. According to Bosniak classification, they are classified into simple and complex renal cysts based on their CT characteristics. The majority of simple renal cysts are asymptomatic and require no intervention. Once they become symptomatic or complicated, a non-conservative management should be considered. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: This paper is a narrative review of existing manuscripts regarding the non-conservative management of renal cysts. To perform it a search through PubMed was carried out in January 2017. The search was conducted using the following key words: "simple renal cysts," "non-conservative management," "treatment outcomes comparison" etc. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: We found 1880 publications that were reviewed by 2 of our authors, and only 46 manuscripts were considered for this review. The most common treatment were investigated and compared to understand the best treatment modality in accordance with patients' and cysts' characteristics. Different treatment modalities are available for the management of simple renal cysts. Surgical exploration is a historical procedure that is no longer used. Simple aspiration without sclerotherapy has high recurrence rate (20-80%), so sclerosants agents are recommended. Ethanol is the most commonly used sclerosing agent with high efficacy up to 97%. Laparoscopy is the gold standard for management in large cysts especially in younger patients. Other techniques are described for parapelvic renal cysts like percutaneous endoscopic ablation and ureteroscopic marsupialization. CONCLUSIONS: Different factors affect the treatment decision including natural history of the cyst, presence of symptoms and/or complications and patients' choice. This literature overview shows that ethanol percutaneous sclerotherapy and laparoscopy are the most commonly reported treatment modality for simple renal cysts.

Rare metastatic sites of renal cell carcinoma: urethra and spermatic cord.

INTRODUCTION: About 20% of patients with a diagnosis of primary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) present directly with metastatic disease. The aim of the present manuscript is to describe, for the first time a RCC metastasis located to the distal female urethra and to present an update on metastatic locations to the male spermatic cord. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report two cases of rare RCC metastases. The first concerns a 92-year-old female patient who came to our attention for recurrent urethral bleeding, which was initially believed to be secondary to urethral mucosal ectropion. Pathology demonstrated a RCC metastasis. The second concerns a 67-year-old male patient with a previous history of RCC who came to our attention for the finding of palpable, mobile and indolent right inguinal lump. Given the past history of malignancy, it was excised and revealed to be a RCC metastasis. DISCUSSION: In the first case, the pathologic specimen allowed the detection of an unknown renal tumor, whereas in the second, the previous neoplastic history of the patient has led clinicians to focus on a possible neoplastic recurrence, perform a correct excision of the node, and begin an early systemic therapy. CONCLUSIONS: These cases are emblematic of possible unexpected RCC metastasis. These findings should be taken into account in order to clarify the differential diagnosis and to address these patients to a correct therapeutic course.