Antenatal hydronephrosis with postnatal resolution: how long are postnatal studies warranted?

We present 2 cases of antenatal hydronephrosis with initial normalization of postnatal studies. Both patients experienced late-onset (6 and 22 months) hydronephrosis secondary to ureteropelvic junction obstruction, necessitating surgical intervention. These cases raise questions about the need for late follow-up imaging in patients with apparent resolution of hydronephrosis diagnosed antenatally.

Increased incidence of hypospadias in small-for-gestational age infants in a neonatal intensive-care unit.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the incidence of hypospadias in children born prematurely and small-for-gestational age (SGA), and to compare this subgroup with infants of similar age and weight without hypospadias. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Records from the neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) of a major metropolitan hospital active in labour and delivery were reviewed over a 3-year period, specifically examining newborns admitted with the diagnosis of SGA, defined as a birth weight of < 10th percentile for gestational age. In all, 154 patients were identified and their charts reviewed, recording the presence and severity of hypospadias, gestational age, birth weight, placental weight, cord length, cord vessels, maternal age, parity, multiple births, drug exposure and associated comorbidity. A control group of age- and weight-matched infants without hypospadias were also identified and compared. RESULTS: Of the 154 patients, 17 (11%) had hypospadias; the hypospadias was distal in nine, mid-shaft in four and proximal in four. The severity of hypospadias did not correlate with the degree of prematurity or weight for gestational age. Placental weight, fetal weight, fetal to placental weight ratio and cord length were all lower in the hypospadias group than in the control group, but the differences were not statistically significant. The maternal age was evenly distributed (median 32 years, range 20-43). Most mothers were multiparous and births were multiple in five of 17 (30%). Cryptorchidism (three) and inguinal hernia (three) were present in four of the infants. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of hypospadias in SGA infants admitted to the NICU is > 10 times higher than that reported for the general population. There was a trend to lower placental and fetal weight in SGA infants with hypospadias than in the controls. This finding merits further evaluation using a larger population database and suggests that factors resulting in SGA infants occur at a critical point early in development, affecting both somatic and urethral development.

Laser tissue soldering for hypospadias repair: results of a controlled prospective clinical trial.

PURPOSE: Laser tissue soldering has been shown to provide safe and effective tissue closure by creating an immediate leak-free anastomosis with minimal scar formation. We compared the results of laser tissue soldering and conventional suturing for hypospadias repair. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A consecutive group of 138 boys 4 months to 8 years old (mean age 15 months) was divided into a standard suturing (84) and a sutureless laser (54) hypospadias repair group. Urethral repair was defined as simple (Thiersch-Duplay or Snodgrass) and complex (onlay island flap or tube) in 101 and 37 cases, respectively. Laser tissue soldering was performed with 50% human albumin solder doped with 2.5 mg./ml. indocyanine green dye using an 808 nm. diode laser at 0.5 W. In the laser group sutures were used for tissue alignment only. At surgery neourethral and penile length, operative time for neourethral construction and the number of sutures or throws were measured. Postoperatively patients were examined for complications of wound healing, stricture or fistula. RESULTS: Mean patient age, urethral defect severity, type of repair, neourethral length and stenting time plus or minus standard error of mean were not significantly different in the 2 groups. Mean operative time was a fifth as long for laser tissue soldering in simple and complex hypospadias repair compared to controls (1.5 +/- 0.1 and 5.1 +/- 0.3 versus 8.5 +/- 0.8 and 26.7 +/- 1.7 minutes, respectively, p <0.001). The mean number of sutures used for tissue alignment in the laser group for simple and complex repair was significantly less than in controls (3.0 +/- 0.2 and 8.2 +/- 0.6 versus 8.5 +/- 0.8 and 23.2 +/- 1.5, respectively, p <0.001). All patients were followed a mean of 12 months (minimum 6, maximum 22). The complication rate was 4.7% in the laser group and 10.7% in controls with fistula in 2 of 54 cases, and fistula and meatal stenosis in 7 and 2 of 84, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results indicate that laser tissue soldering for hypospadias repair may be performed in almost sutureless fashion and more rapidly than conventional suturing. The ease of the laser technique and the lower complication rate in the laser group indicate that laser tissue soldering is an acceptable means of tissue closure in hypospadias repair.

Intestinal de-epithelialization and augmentation cystoplasty: an animal model.

OBJECTIVES: An animal model of augmentation cystoplasty was developed in New Zealand rabbits to study the effects of intestinal de-epithelialization on subsequent re-epithelialization by bladder urothelium. METHODS: Twenty-four rabbits underwent augmentation cystoplasty using intestinal segments that were either treated with protamine sulfate and urea solution or else anastomosed with an intact epithelium. Half of the rabbits receiving the de-epithelialized intestinal segments were subjected to glycosaminoglycan replacement therapy by administration of intravesical heparin. Experimental and control rabbits were sacrificed at 1-, 2-, and 3-month intervals. RESULTS: Histologic examination of the augmented sections showed small areas of urothelium growing over the intestinal epithelium (approximately 15%). The heparin-treated group demonstrated the greatest amount of re-epithelialization. There was no obvious histologic difference in the amount of collagen present in the augmented tissues in any of the experimental groups. CONCLUSIONS: In a preliminary study, New Zealand rabbits appear to be satisfactory as an experimental animal for studying the augmentation cystoplasty procedure and for the development of therapeutic interventions for enhancing epithelial growth. Protamine and urea will de-epithelialize the bowel and heparin may promote epithelialization of augmented intestinal segment by transitional epithelium.

Fertility index analysis in cryptorchidism.

We report on 226 male patients with cryptorchidism 6 months to 16 years old who underwent open testis biopsy at orchiopexy or orchiectomy at Children's Hospital and Health Center from 1986 to 1990. A total of 355 specimens was obtained. Tissues were preserved in Bouin's solution and examined on light microscopy for fertility index measurements. Several biopsies prepared using Bouin's preserved paraffinized tissue and glutaraldehyde preserved semi-thin cut tissue were found to have comparable fertility index measurements. Of 184 patients with unilateral undescended testes 87 also underwent biopsy on the contralateral descended testis. A total of 42 patients had bilateral undescended testes. Age matched comparisons were made between fertility index measurements of the undescended testes and those previously reported of normal testes. Additional case matched comparisons of fertility indexes were made in those children who underwent biopsy of the undescended testis and its descended mate. Statistical analysis was performed using the independent Student t-test. When comparing undescended to descended testes, there was no significant difference in the fertility index of patients 1 year old or younger but fertility index differences were statistically significant in all of the other age groups. Fertility index measurements were significantly decreased from normal expected values in all age groups with unilateral cryptorchidism and in all but the 13 to 18-month-old group with bilateral cryptorchidism. The fertility index in the descended testis was similar to previously reported normal testis measurements in boys between 13 months and 6 years old. Our data suggest that potential fertility in the cryptorchid testis may be significantly impaired compared to normal testicular fertility regardless of patient age at the time of discovery of the undescended testis. The fertility index of the descended mates of unilateral undescended testes may also be somewhat impaired in certain age groups. Orchiopexy in the first year of life may be indicate to preserve available fertility potential.

Distal hypospadias.

Distal hypospadias, where the urethral meatus is located subcoronal or more distal, is one of the most common congenital anomalies in males. The embryology and etiology of hypospadias, timing of repair, surgical techniques, anesthesia for and complications of hypospadias repair are reviewed.

The management of proximal hypospadias using a 1-stage hypospadias repair with a preputial free graft for neourethral construction and a preputial pedicle flap for ventral skin coverage.

A total of 77 patients with proximal hypospadias underwent a 1-stage hypospadias repair using a preputial free graft for neourethral construction and a preputial pedicle flap for ventral skin coverage. Of the patients 84% achieved excellent functional and cosmetic results with 1 procedure.

Is urinary tract screening necessary for patients with cerebral palsy?

Patients with cerebral palsy are prompted to seek urological evaluation when urinary tract infection, socially unacceptable incontinence or hematuria occurs. We attempted to determine the prevalence of urinary tract structural changes by prospectively screening on sonography the kidneys and bladder of 90 patients 1 to 25 years old (mean age 8 years) who had cerebral palsy with or without urological symptoms. Uncooperative patients or those who would require sedation were excluded. Of the patients 66 were incontinent and used diapers, 18 were completely dry and 6 had nocturnal enuresis with daytime dryness. Sonographic abnormalities were detected in 7 patients, including renal size discrepancy in 2 (1 with severe scoliosis and 1 with a history of renal artery thrombosis), mild to moderate hydronephrosis with thickened bladders suggestive of neurogenic bladder dysfunction in 3 and a nonvisualized kidney in 2. However, repeat sonography confirmed 2 normal kidneys in the latter patients. Thus, urinary tract abnormalities were detected unexpectedly in 2% of patients studied. This relatively low proportion suggests that routine urinary tract screening in cerebral palsy patients may not be warranted.

A new method for cytodestruction of bladder epithelium using protamine sulfate and urea.

Bladder epithelium relies primarily on the presence of a surface glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer and the structural integrity of cell-cell contact to maintain impermeability to toxic urinary wastes. Previous clinical studies evaluating bladder permeability characteristics in interstitial cystitis patients had indicated that epithelial desquamation occurs after treatment with protamine sulfate (PS) followed by hypertonic urea. The following study was performed using rabbits to further investigate this finding. The urinary bladder was evaluated for optimal treatment conditions for epithelial removal. Protamine sulfate (1 to 10 mg./ml.) and urea (100 to 200 gm./ml.) were instilled into the bladder at volumes ranging from 5 to 60 ml. to that required for near maximum distention. After incubation at room temperature for 15 minutes, the bladders were fixed and evaluated histologically for epithelial removal. The maximum epithelial removal occurred when the bladders were distended, and when PS concentration was 5 to 10 mg./ml. and urea at 200 gm./l. There was greater epithelium removal after repeated treatments. Epithelial cells that were removed were not viable based on Trypan blue staining. There was no significant increase of C14 labeled urea in the plasma after 15 minutes. Rabbits that were followed for 6 weeks after treatment did not show any histological evidence of increased collagen deposition and/or fibrosis. This procedure may have important clinical value since it may remove sufficient bladder epithelium in patients with transitional cell carcinoma to have therapeutic benefit. This offers a realistic option for selective, nontoxic destruction of bladder epithelium.

The selective use of dimercaptosuccinic acid renal scans in children with vesicoureteral reflux.

Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) renal scans were performed on 75 children (115 refluxing renal units) to determine the efficacy of routine scanning in patients with various grades of vesicoureteral reflux. Cystourethrography demonstrated grades I and II reflux in 75 renal units and grades III to V in 40. Of the patients 51 presented with febrile urinary tract infection and 24 were asymptomatic (patients presenting with nonfebrile urinary tract infections or those undergoing sibling screening). Renal ultrasounds were performed in 60 patients. All patients were initially managed with medical therapy and 19 (25%) ultimately underwent antireflux surgery. DMSA scans demonstrated scarring in 17 of 40 renal units (43%) of patients with high grade vesicoureteral reflux and 6 of 75 renal units (8%) of those with low grade reflux. Renal ultrasounds that were interpreted as normal always correlated to a normal DMSA scan in asymptomatic patients. In patients presenting with febrile urinary tract infections the correlation between ultrasound and DMSA scan was inconsistent. We advocate a tailored approach in the evaluation of patients with vesicoureteral reflux. Renal sonography may be sufficient in the assessment of renal scarring in asymptomatic patients with reflux and those with low grade reflux. Conversely, in patients with high grade vesicoureteral reflux, a history of febrile urinary tract infections and abnormal renal ultrasound DMSA renal scans appear to be most useful.

An alternative approach to myelodysplasia management: aggressive observation and prompt intervention.

We have adopted an approach to the management of myelodysplasia patients which is contrary to that most commonly supported by the existing literature. We screen patients shortly after birth with ultrasound, urine culture and serum creatinine, and then follow patients at 3 to 6-month intervals with similar studies. Cystography and urodynamics are done only as required clinically or by a change in the sonogram. Clean intermittent catheterization is indicated for continence or medical reasons. With this approach of aggressive observation and prompt intervention, we observed a rate of renal deterioration (diminished function on renal scan or parenchymal loss on imaging studies) of 5%. Renal deterioration was associated statistically with urinary tract infections and reflux. Patients started on clean intermittent catheterization for medical indications had greater risk for renal deterioration than those started on it for continence. Renal deterioration occurred with equal frequency between patients with abnormal and normal urodynamic studies, that is urodynamics did not predict renal deterioration. Our data show a rate of renal deterioration similar to other reports. We believe that aggressive observation with prompt intervention for problems once identified represents a reasonable alternative to managing patients with myelodysplasia.

Preoperative laparoscopic localization of the nonpalpable testis: a critical analysis of a 10-year experience.

Laparoscopy was performed on 107 patients 8 months to 18.5 years old (mean age 46.9 months) with 119 nonpalpable testes. The procedure accurately determined the location of the gonad in 95.3% of the patients, while 16 were spared formal surgical exploration with the laparoscopic visualization of blind-ending spermatic vessels and vasa deferentia. Additionally, patency of the internal inguinal ring, determined laparoscopically, was an accurate predictor of testicular salvageability. We advocate the use of laparoscopy for all boys with a nonpalpable gonad in conjunction with operative intervention if necessary.

Genitourinary trauma in the pediatric patient.

Trauma is the major source of mortality in the pediatric population. A retrospective review was performed on patients admitted to the Children's Hospital and Health Center Trauma Program, San Diego, California, from August 1984 to May 1990. The purpose of this review was to evaluate pediatric trauma and to determine the best treatment and evaluation for genitourinary injuries. Blunt trauma was responsible for 98 percent of the injuries, with renal injuries being the most common. Bladder (7) and male urethral (2) injuries, and vaginal lacerations (8) also occurred. The most severe renal injuries (70%) and all significant bladder and urethral injuries were associated with gross hematuria. Hypotension was present in 31 percent of patients but rarely required surgical exploration for correction. Eighty-six patients underwent radiographic imaging. Computerized tomography (CT) scans demonstrated the most information about intra-abdominal solid organ injuries but was inaccurate in detecting bladder or urethral injuries. Genitourinary injury is common in children but rarely requires surgical management. CT scan is the best study to determine extent of solid-organ injury but is inferior to cystourethrography to diagnose bladder or urethral injuries.

Urethral healing in rabbits.

We studied urethral healing in New Zealand white rabbits by histological examination after insult (urethral catheter) or injury (urethrotomy) specifically for acute and chronic inflammation, fibrosis, fistulas, squamous metaplasia, foreign body giant cells and urethral dilatation. Urethral catheterization resulted in increased inflammation and fibrosis compared to noncatheterized animals. Skin closure techniques and materials resulted in an inflammatory response that may extend to and involve the urethra. Minor differences in suture size were not an important variable but the persistence of suture material may have a role in the degree of inflammation and the formation of foreign body giant cells. Transepithelial closure techniques drag epithelial cells into subcutaneous tissues and may predispose to fistula formation.

Diagnostic pneumoperitoneum for the detection of the clinically occult contralateral hernia in children.

The detection and management of occult contralateral hernia in children who present with a clinically evident unilateral hernia have evoked controversy. Routine use of herniography, intraoperative probing of the contralateral inguinal area and routine or selective exploration of the contralateral groin all have their advocates and detractors. During the last 5 years we have used intraoperative pneumoperitoneum and we report our experience in 64 patients 3 months to 9 years old. A retrospective analysis of the data revealed that pneumoperitoneum was negative in demonstrating a contralateral inguinal hernia in 59 of 64 patients (92%). Contralateral exploration was not performed in patients in whom pneumoperitoneum was negative. All 5 patients who tested positive had an indirect inguinal hernia upon contralateral exploration and all 5 were less than 3 years old. Patients who had a negative pneumoperitoneum were followed for up to 5 years and only 1 (1.8%) false negative examination was discovered. Pneumoperitoneum is a safe, effective means to evaluate the contralateral groin for occult hernia at the time of unilateral hernia repair in children.

Fascia lata and early spica casting as adjuncts in closure of bladder exstrophy.

Correction of the skeletal defect seen in the exstrophy complex consists of reconstitution of the pelvic ring. Long-term success depends upon the formation of a fibrous union between the pubes. When this union does not occur diastasis of the pubis results. Long-term urological success appears to be related to adequate pubic approximation. We used fascia lata to construct an anterior pelvic ligament between the pubic bones in 7 patients. In the 6 patients for whom followup is available the fascia lata has persisted and appears to be viable histologically on biopsy specimens obtained at a subsequent operation. Because the fascia lata holds the pubis together so well we have been able to cease Bryant's traction in children by 2 weeks and place them into a cast. This has resulted in early discharge from the hospital in all patients. For these reasons we believe that fascia lata is a useful adjunct in the armamentarium of materials used to reapproximate the pubis.

Microvascular autotransplantation of the intra-abdominal testis.

The operative management of intra-abdominal testes is controversial, largely because there is no method of orchiopexy that can reliably produce good results. We report our results on the use of microvascular autotransplantation of intra-abdominal testes. We performed 12 autotransplants in 10 boys ranging in age from 10 months to 14 years (median age 30 months). In each instance the testis had been localized previously by laparoscopy or it was known to be intra-abdominal and was believed to be grossly normal in appearance. The vascular anastomoses of the spermatic to the inferior epigastric vessels were performed by an experienced microvascular surgeon using 10-zero nylon suture and 40 times magnification. Biopsies were taken at operation in 9 patients. Followup of 6 to 30 months is available in 7 patients and all 8 testes are palpably normal and in good scrotal position. This approach is feasible even in small children and the results seem to be superior to the expected results reported with division of the spermatic vessels.

Etiology, diagnosis, and management of urethral strictures in children.

Urethral strictures in children, like those in adults, are problems whose management embodies all that is basic to urology. It is helpful to think of strictures according to etiology: congenital, infectious-inflammatory, and traumatic (iatrogenic and noniatrogenic). The treatment options are diversion (nearly always temporary), manipulation, and repair. The authors also review their research on urethral healing.

Ectopic ureteroceles: surgical management with preservation of continence--review of 60 cases.

During the last 19 years we treated 60 children with ectopic ureteroceles. There was a 4 to 1 female-to-male predominance. Of the patients 47 per cent presented before age 6 months, 66 per cent were diagnosed after a urinary tract infection and 6 were identified antenatally. Based upon a review of the literature and our data, we believe that "total correction" (a single operation designed to correct abnormalities of the upper and lower urinary tract) is superior in most instances to an approach in which just the upper urinary tract pathological condition is treated. Only 4 (14 per cent) of 28 patients in whom "total correction" was used required a second operation (all because of persistent reflux) while 14 of 19 patients (74 per cent) treated with an upper urinary tract procedure intended as definitive therapy have either undergone further surgery or have a residual abnormality that may require further surgery. Marsupialization rather than enucleation of the ectopic ureterocele is effective and safe, risking neither injury to the bladder neck or sphincteric mechanism nor resulting in a vesicovaginal fistula.