[Renal artery stenosis--an underestimated cause of hypertension and renal failure?]. / Njurartärstenos--underskattad orsak till hypertoni och njursvikt?

Although renovascular hypertension is associated with substantial cardiovascular morbidity, ultimately it is a curable disease. Early identification and appropriate treatment of renovascular hypertension may save years of antihypertensive therapy, reduce the morbidity associated with long-standing hypertension, and help to minimise the risk of renal failure. However, the main problem is to identify patients with renovascular disease suitable for treatment. This requires alertness in the clinician, and renographic screening of renal function or duplex-ultrasound scanning of renovascular circulation to augment the yield of angiographic procedures. The predominant treatment of renovascular disease today is percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, which can be used as a repeat procedure or in combination with endoluminal stenting of the stenotic renal artery.

Serum levels of IgG antibodies against Tamm-Horsfall protein and urinary excretion of NAG and alpha-1-microglobulin as possible markers for tubular damage in patients with a continent ileal reservoir for urinary diversion.

Serum IgG antibodies against Tamm-Horsfall protein and urinary excretion of NAG and alpha-1-microglobulin were measured in 26 patients with a Kock reservoir for continent urinary diversion or orthotopic bladder reconstruction in order to detect any signs of tubular damage. None of these markers for tubular damage was correlated to the postoperative observation time ranging between 2 and 16 years. No correlation was found between these markers and signs of renal scarring or upper urinary tract dilatation as judged from urographies. A positive correlation was demonstrated between NAG excretion and antibodies against Tamm-Horsfall protein. The annual reduction in GFR was increased in patients with elevated alpha-1-microglobulin excretion but not in patients with elevated titres of antibodies against Tamm-Horsfall protein or increased NAG excretion. Patients with previous or present reflux nipple problems had elevated excretion of alpha-1-microglobulin. Regular determinations of alpha-1-microglobulin excretion appear to be of value in the follow-up of these patients.

Treatment of renovascular hypertension: one year results of renal angioplasty.

During the ten year period from 1981 to 1991, percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA) was performed in 180 renal arteries in 137 patients, where the underlying renovascular disease was fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) in 30 patients (22%) and arteriosclerotic vascular disease (AVD) in 107 (78%). A preinterventional work-up and a re-evaluation of the patients after one year was designed for the assessment of the clinical, functional and technical outcome. Successful technical dilatation was achieved in 97% of procedures with FMD patients and in 82% of procedures with AVD patients. A beneficial effect on the blood pressure and the renal function was registered in both groups. The overall cure and improvement rate for hypertension was 86% in the FMD group and 64% in the AVD group after one year's follow-up. A significant gain in the total renal function was registered in both groups, the average increase in glomerular filtration rate being 13% (P < 0.001) for the FMD group and 11% (P < 0.001) for the AVD group one year after PTRA. Renal function was improved or unchanged in 89% of FMD patients and 74% of AVD patients. The improvement in renal function was made by the revascularized kidney. Renal vein renin investigation predicted the clinical outcome with an excellent diagnostic accuracy as no renin negative patient became normotensive, and renin positive patients, who did not turn normotensive, were in almost 90% of the cases affected by technical failure or restenosis/contralateral stenosis. Thus, the sensitivity of renal vein renin investigation was 95% and the specificity 75%. The outcome for patients with hypertension and renal insufficiency was considerably poorer than for the whole group of patients, with only a 20% success rate for hypertension, but 50% in this group had increased or unchanged GFR after intervention. The angiographic one-year follow-up revealed a recurrence rate of 6.7% for FMD and 15.1% for AVD. For the entire series of patients, the incidence of major complications was 5.4%, including one indirect fatality, while the incidence of minor complications was 5%. In conclusion, PTRA will cure or improve blood pressure in most patients with renovascular hypertension, and it preserves and even improves renal function in these patients. Complications and recurrence are in fact not very common and PTRA appears be the best first approach in all but ostial lesions for treatment of renovascular hypertension.

Analysis of stone fragility in vitro and in vivo with piezoelectric shock waves using the EDAP LT-01.

A total of 100 whole stones was fragmented in vitro at 3-minute intervals with piezoelectric shock waves using the EDAP LT-01 device until all fragments were less than 2 mm. Larger stones and stones with a high computerized tomography attenuation needed longer treatments for fragmentation. Smoothly bulging stones with an even structure according to plain x-ray films were also more resistant to the shock wave treatment. Calcium oxalate monohydrate stones were not more difficult to break than other types of calculi. Stone fragments from 100 patients after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy were also analyzed. The average size of the fragments collected was less than 1 mm. Larger stones produced larger fragments and required more treatment sessions.

Stone recurrences in kidneys made stone-free by percutaneous extraction.

Of 100 renal units which were made stone-free by percutaneous stone extraction in 1985, 86 (86.0%) were re-examined radiologically up to 5 years after operation. The re-examination was performed because of symptoms or as part of a regular check-up or after calling the patient. Intrarenal calcifications were diagnosed in 27 of 86 (31.4%) of the renal units, but only in 11 (12.8%) were there stones requiring treatment.

Bilateral asynchronous renal cell carcinoma. Computed tomography of the contralateral kidney 10-43 years after nephrectomy.

Computed tomography (CT) was carried out in 31 patients 10-43 years after surgery for renal cell carcinoma, 10 belonging to a consecutive series of patients operated upon at one urological department 10 years previously. Twenty-eight patients were symptomless, and 3 had flank pain, severe fatigue and hematuria, respectively. Cancers in the remaining kidney were found 13-21 years after nephrectomy in 4 of 31 patients (12.9%). The 3 patients with symptoms were among these 4. An adenoma was found in 1 patient 10 years after nephrectomy. The cancers were treated by renal resection in 2 patients, multiple tumors made nephrectomy necessary in 1 patient and 1 patient was not operated upon because of disseminated disease. The adenoma indicated future checkup by CT. Three of the 4 new cancers had a dismal outcome. The renal parenchyma was found to be essentially normal in all the other 26 patients, irrespective of the widely varying time interval between nephrectomy and CT. Asynchronous bilateral renal cell carcinoma has a poor outcome which presumably can be improved by early diagnosis and aggressive treatment. CT is the method of choice for early detection and follow-up of renal tumors. It should be carried out every other year after nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.

Management of hyperparathyroid patients with grave hypercalcemia.

During recent years the total number of patients undergoing surgery for hyperparathyroidism has markedly increased, but the annual number of cases with substantial hypercalcemia has remained unchanged. Parathyroid carcinoma and water clear cell hyperplasia cause more severe hypercalcemia than other kinds of hyperparathyroidism. Grave hypercalcemia due to hyperparathyroidism is more common among the elderly, but can occur during pregnancy and also among children. Occasionally, a patient with hyperparathyroidism can also have another cause of the hypercalcemia and does not become normocalcemic until adequately treated for both. The suspicion of grave hypercalcemia should arise due to its clinical features. Determination of serum calcium and intact parathyroid hormone concentrations establishes the diagnosis. The basic treatment of grave hypercalcemia is to rehydrate the patient and to restore the sodium losses. To further lower the serum calcium value we have found bisphosphonates to be very effective. The definitive treatment of grave hypercalcemia due to hyperparathyroidism is surgery. As a last resort, frail patients with grave hyperparathyroidism can undergo surgery under local anesthesia. Repeat operations can improve the prognosis of patients with metastatic parathyroid carcinoma. Selective venous catheterization with blood sampling for determination of intact parathyroid hormone can be helpful in localizing recurrent disease.

Chronic lower limb ischaemia. A prospective randomised controlled study comparing the 1-year results of vascular surgery and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA).

In a prospective randomised study, performed over a 6-year period, 102 patients with severe lower limb ischaemia or claudication resistant to exercise training were randomised either to percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or vascular surgery. Only patients who could be treated by both methods were included, constituting only 5% of the total number of patients treated during this period. The two groups were similar regarding age, severity of symptoms and diabetes. The immediate and 1-year results showed similar success and complication rates. There was, however, a significantly shorter hospital stay for patients treated with PTA. Due to early complications and initial failures PTA should, however, only be used in institutions where vascular surgical facilities are available since PTA demands access to such treatment.

Use of a tamponade catheter in the bleeding nephrostolithotomy track.

Bleeding from the nephrostomy track, which is the most common major complication of percutaneous extraction of renal stones, was treated in 5 patients with the Kaye double-lumen nephrostomy tamponade catheter. This treatment was effective in all cases. The procedure eliminates the need for more invasive measures like embolisation and open surgery with renal resection, both of which cause loss of functioning renal parenchyma.

Outpatient-based extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy using EDAP LT-01.

Between March 1988 and March 1990, 751 patients were treated with shock wave lithotripsy using EDAP LT-01. Six hundred and eight patients had renal stones while 143 patients had stones located in the ureter. Because of difficulties in locating ureteric stones with ultrasound 92% of them were pushed back to the kidney before treatment. The mean stone size was 10 mm, range 4-30 mm. Patients with stones bigger than 15 mm had a double J-stent placed before treatment. The mean number of treatments per patient was 1.7 (range 1-8). Sixty-six per cent of the patients with renal stones were completely stone-free after ESWL monotherapy. Another 5% became stone-free after auxiliary procedures in the ureter, because of retained fragments. Fragments equal to or less than 4 mm were retained in 14% of the patients with the renal stones. Of the patients with ureteric stones mobilised back to the kidney 95% were rendered stone-free after ESWL. Most patients experienced no or very little discomfort during the treatment and only 29% of them received analgesics. General of epidural anaesthesia was given to 1% of the patients. Because of the low demand for analgesia or anaesthesia, 99% of the patients with renal stones were treated on an outpatient basis. During the second year, 74% of the patients with ureteric stones were treated on an outpatient basis.

Percutaneous renal and ureteric stone extraction. Report on the first 500 operations.

A consecutive series of the first 500 percutaneous renal and ureteric stone extractions in 451 patients was analysed. During the period studied, percutaneous extraction was offered to all patients with conventional indication for stone removal except a few, very early ureteric stone patients in whom open lithotomy was carried out. Ureteroscopy and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy had not come into routine use. Four hundred and seventy-eight stone operations (96%) could be performed by the percutaneous route; early in the series, 21 open operations and one transurethral Dormia basket extraction were performed, mainly because of failed mobilisation of ureteric stones (12 patients) or various peroperative complications (9 patients). The target stones were completely removed in 88% of all percutaneous procedures, with the best results in the largest group of patients with 6-20 mm solitary stones or 2-3 stones less than or equal to 10 mm. Stones in the ureter and pelvi-ureteric junction without any other concomitant stones were all completely removed. Bleeding was the most frequent peroperative complication. No kidney was lost. An 84-year-old man died of intercurrent disease postoperatively.

Percutaneous surgery for stones in pyelocaliceal diverticula.

The technique used for percutaneous extraction of stones in pyelocaliceal diverticula and the results of the procedure in 13 patients are presented. Nine patients have been free of their pre-operative symptoms, pain and/or bacteriuria, since removal of the stones.

Early diagnosis of and surgical strategy for adrenal medullary disease in MEN II gene carriers.

Sixteen multiple endocrine neoplasia type II (MEN II) gene carriers--12 who had undergone thyroidectomy because of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid and 4 whose thyroid glands had been removed because of C cell hyperplasia--were examined for the presence of pheochromocytomas. No patient had sought medical advice for pheochromocytoma symptoms. Fourteen patients had MEN IIa syndromes, one patient had a MEN IIb and another patient had a mixed syndrome of von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis and MEN II. Eight patients had undergone unilateral adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma 11 +/- 4 years before. The patients underwent clinical examination, determination of the urinary excretion of catecholamines and metabolites, and 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (131I-MIBG) and CAT scans. 131I-MIBG scanning was performed with images 1, 4, and 7 days after the radionuclide injection. In seven of eight patients who had undergone unilateral adrenalectomies, the 131I-MIBG scans showed accumulation of the radionuclide in the remaining adrenal gland. Bilateral adrenal accumulation of the radionuclide was demonstrated in seven of eight MEN IIa gene carriers who had not undergone adrenalectomy. Five patients, two of whom had undergone adrenalectomy, were found to have unilateral pheochromocytomas less than 2 cm in diameter. Only one of these five patients had an elevated excretion of urinary catecholamines. Between day 4 and day 7 after 131I-MIBG injection, adrenal glands with pheochromocytomas increased their relative accumulation of the radionuclide significantly more (p less than 0.02) than did adrenal glands without any demonstrable pheochromocytomas. All the pheochromocytomas were viewed by means of CAT scans. Only one MEN IIa patient had bilateral pheochromocytomas, but our findings indicate that there is a tendency to bilateral adrenal medullary hyperfunction in most MEN II gene carriers. As 131I-MIBG and CAT scans can facilitate the early diagnosis of pheochromocytomas, unilateral adrenalectomy can safely be performed in most MEN IIa patients. Bilateral pheochromocytomas develop in a majority of patients with MEN IIb syndromes. Bilateral adrenalectomy should therefore be performed in these patients.

Computed tomography after percutaneous renal stone extraction.

Eighty patients were examined with computed tomography (CT) of the kidney and the retroperitoneal space after percutaneous stone extraction. Most examinations were done within a week after the operation. The morphologic changes were usually small or none. In 7 patients minor renal or perirenal fluid collections were found. Their operations had been complicated by bleeding or leakage. In 66 patients CT was compared with conventional radiographs. Residual stones were more often detected by CT. They were usually small. Percutaneous renal stone extraction is considered a safe and efficient method.

Renal cell carcinoma with vena cava extension: diagnostic and surgical features of 41 cases.

Vena cava extension of renal cell carcinoma was diagnosed in 33 men and 8 women, 29 of whom had right-sided and 12 left-sided tumours. Angiography was performed in all and cavography in most patients. Computed tomography was available in 16 cases. The tumour thrombus did not reach the diaphragm in 32 patients, and extended above it in 9 cases. Macroscopically, complete cavathrombectomy was performed in 33 patients. All tumours except one were of high grade type (grades III and IV). Serum creatinine and liver enzymes were normal at the first postoperative check-up. The 5-year-survival rate in patients subjected to complete cavathrombectomy was 24%. The 5-year-survival was 33% in patients whose tumours extended to below the diaphragm, 0% in patients whose tumours extended above the diaphragm (NS), 33% in grade III tumours and 0% in grade IV tumours (NS), 33% in patients without evidence of metastases and 0% in patients with preoperative metastases (NS).

Low dose urography. A clinical comparison of three low osmolar (ratio 3) contrast media.

Three modern low osmolar contrast media (Iopamiro, Omnipaque and Hexabrix) were injected intravenously in 150 patients. They were all effective for urography in a concentration iso-osmolar to blood and with a dose of 90 mg I/kg body weight in patients with normal renal function. In patients with decreased renal function, this low dose is not sufficient and should be doubled. No significant diagnostic differences between the three media were found. The subjective and objective adverse effects were minimal and transient.

Low dose urography with a low osmolar contrast medium.

In a double blind study of 100 consecutive patients routinely referred for urography, a conventional contrast medium (Isopaque cerebral) was compared at a dose of 180 mg I/kg body weight with a low osmolar contrast medium (Hexabrix 160) at a dose of 90 mg I/kg body weight. In spite of 50 per cent dose reduction, equally good diagnostic effect was achieved with Hexabrix as with the conventional contrast medium.

"Half-way" venous catheters. II. Anatomoradiological basis.

In order to develop a "half-way" venous catheter for clinical use, anthropometric (n = 200), radiographic (n = 101), and phlebographic (n = 44) investigations were undertaken to determine the lengths, diameters, and morphology of the basilic and cephalic veins from fossa cubiti to the lateral edge of the first rib. The lengths of basilic and cephalic veins varied from 25 to 45 cm, exceeding 40 cm in approximately 5% of cases. Catheter lengths to be inserted were correlated ("r" = 0.6-0.7) with body heights, accurately estimated by 1/5 of the body height (cm) plus 2 cm for the basilic vein, and 4 cm for the cephalic vein. The cephalic veins have small proximal end diameters (mean = 6 mm), and present terminal arches of 2-3 cm. These are connected by a rich anastomotic network to the superficial cervical veins. The basilico-axillary courses are regular with gradually increasing diameters (mean = 16 mm), but in some observations, with the arms maximally abducted, the axillary veins presented accentuated folds. With these considerations, we recommend the insertion of the "half-way" catheters by basilic approach with the patient's arm in 90 degree abduction. The axillosubclavian length (mean = 18.5 cm) ensures wide limits for accurate placement of the "half-way" catheter tips when a basilic approach is used. Further, their large diameters (16-19 mm) make flotation of the soft catheters probable.

"Half-way" venous catheters. IV. Clinical experience and thrombogenicity.

"Half-way", Secalon-Seldy, soft venous catheters, 40 cm long, were inserted by basilic (n = 90) and cephalic (n = 31) veins at the fossa cubiti in 121 patients (71 men and 50 women) aged between 19 and 88 years whose heights varied from 152-197 cm. The inserted catheter lengths approximated 1/5 of the patient's height. Sixty-five per cent of 106 radiologically investigated catheter tips were located proximally in the axillary veins, and 34% distally in the subclavian veins. The duration of catheterization varied from 1 to 44 (mean 9 +/- 7) days (means +/- 1 s.d.). Perfect function was recorded in 93 of 121 catheters. No serious, but some minor complications were registered such as temporary interruption of infusion flow with movements of the arm (n = 12), partial or total catheter occlusion (n = 16), leakage of the infusate at the insertion site (n = 1), and pain along the vein during infusion (n = 2). Five patients (4%) developed thrombophlebitis 2-.10 days after insertion. Pull out phlebographies at catheter withdrawal (4-35 days after insertion) were performed in 36 patients. Radiological thrombi were small and similar to those recorded in another 53 phlebographies of "long-way" brachial catheters of similar stiffness. Neither local infection nor episodes of sepsis were registered over a period of 1,081 catheter days. "Half-way" catheters proved able to take over all the functions of both peripheral and central venous catheters, lacking the frequent complications (phlebitis and infection) of the former, and the serious mechanical complications (pneumothorax, vein perforations, and injuries of the ductus thoracicus, nerves, arteries, and heart) of the latter.