[Emphysematous cystitis with air bubbles in the vena cava].

A 76-year-old diabetic woman was referred to our hospital with an episode of high fever and sub-abdominal pain. Computed tomography (CT) of the pelvis revealed gas accumulation within the lumen and wall of the bladder and CT of the abdomen demonstrated bubbles in the inferior vena cava. She recovered by urinary drainage and antibiotic therapy. Urinary culture revealed Escherichia coli. CT after the therapy didn't demonstrate gas accumulation of the bladder and bubbles in the inferior vena cava. Emphysematous urinary tract infections (UTIs) have the high fatality rate, it seems to be a possibility that venous bubbles with emphysematous UTIs contribute to the high fatality rate such as air embolisms. It was suspected that bacterial injury of the bladder wall and high vesical pressure caused by urinary outlet obstruction such as neurogenic bladder lead gas translocation into the venous system. Six previous cases of emphysematous UTIs (three emphysematous cystitis cases and three emphysematous pyelonephritis cases) with venous bubbles have been reported to this day. Our case is seems to be the fourth case report that venous bubbles with emphysematous cystitis was demonstrated.

[Long survival in patient with invasive renal pelvic carcinoma treated with frequentative resection of pulmonary metastasis and chemotherapy: a case report].

A 51-year-old man was referred to our hospital for treatment of left renal pelvic tumor diagnosed with computed tomography (CT) on health screening. Retroperitoneoscopy-assisted radical left nephroureterectomy was performed under a diagnosis of left renal pelvic carcinoma. Histopathological examination showed urothelial carcinoma (UC), Grade 2 > > Grade 3, pT3. Subsequently to the radical operation, pulmonary metastasis appeared four times. But the patient with free of recurrence survives 6 years later, treated with chemotherapy and resection of pulmonary metastasis. Although the patient with high grade invasive renal pelvic carcinoma usually has a poor prognosis, it seems to be a possibility that if the lesion is resectable, resection of pulmonary metastasis carries a good prognosis.

[A case of primary urothelial carcinoma of the prostate].

A 42-year-old male diagnosed with primary urothelial carcinoma of the prostate (T4NOM0) underwent pelvic exenteration, and lymph node dissection. Two courses of systemic chemotherapy (gemcitabine and carboplatin) were performed. This patient is alive without any evidence of tumor recurrence at 6 months after surgery.

[Blind-ending bifid ureter: report of a case].

A case of blind-ending bifid ureter is presented. A 33-year-old woman was admitted with the compliant of right flank pain. Drip infusion pyelography and retrograde pyelography showed a right blind-ending bifid ureter (about 26 cm in length) at a site about 4 cm superior to the right ureteral opening. No treatment was needed because her symptoms subsided spontaneously.

Prognostic value of 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography imaging for patients with prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of measuring glucose metabolism of primary prostate cancer lesions, using 2-Deoxy-2-[F-18]Fluoro-D-Glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). PROCEDURES: Forty-two patients with prostate cancer were investigated with FDG-PET, and standardized uptake value (SUV) of the prostate was calculated. After PET study, radical prostatectomy was performed in 17 patients (RPT group), and endocrine therapy in 25 patients (ET group). Relapse-free survival curves were created by the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: In the RPT group, the patients with high SUV had a poorer prognosis compared to those with low SUV (P = 0.033). In the ET group, the patients with high SUV were likely to have a poorer prognosis with low significance at a level of P = 0.087. CONCLUSIONS: FDG-PET appeared to have a defined prognostic value for patients with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy, and more patients need to be studied for patients undergoing endocrine therapy.