Objectives: To assess the long-term effectiveness and safety of nephron-sparing surgery for the treatment of localized renal cell carcinoma with a normal contralateral kidney.
Methods: Since 1973, 118 patients have undergone nephron-sparing surgery for renal cell carcinoma on an elective basis at our institutions. The vast majority of these tumors were incidental findings, with a mean tumor diameter of 3.
The aim of the present study was to calculate patient effective dose and associated radiogenic risk from fluoroscopy guided extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy procedures. Fluoroscopy required during extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy was classified in two types identified by beam orientation: antero-posterior and 30 degrees anterior-oblique projected exposures. Duration of each exposure was monitored in 124 patients undergoing extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy treatment for ureteral stones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 20-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain of 4-h duration and of sudden onset. A plain abdominal radiograph showed a giant ureteral stone measuring 12 cm causing ureteral obstruction. Abdominal ultrasound revealed severe dilatation of the two upper thirds of the left ureter and a hydronephrotic ipsilateral kidney.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We report our 5-year experience in the management of ureteral stones in pediatric patients using shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) in combination with ureteroscopy.
Patients And Methods: A total of 25 children (age range 12 months-14 years; mean 8.7 years) underwent SWL for ureteral lithiasis.
Objective: To assess the effectiveness and long-term results of two repeated ethanol injections in the treatment of symptomatic renal cysts.
Methods: Sixty-eight patients 47 to 75 years old with 77 large (6.3-14.
Objective: We report our experience on intraureteral metallic stents placement for the treatment of malignant and benign ureteral strictures.
Methods: Eight patients (six men and two women) with inoperable malignant or benign ureteral strictures, underwent insertion of metallic stents through percutaneous tracts. Six lesions (three malignant, three benign) involved ureterointestinal anastomoses after cystectomy for bladder cancer and ureteroileal urinary diversion or bladder substitution, and two malignant lesions involved the midureter.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and long-term results after finasteride treatment of recurrent hematuria associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Materials And Methods: The study comprised 80 patients, aged 62-86 (mean 74) years, of whom 50 received finasteride 5 mg once daily for 4 years and 30 were used as controls. Patients with malignancy, severe hepatic or renal failure and hematologic disorders were excluded.
We studied gastrointestinal (GI) colonization by Candida albicans in patients receiving oral norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin or ofloxacin as monotherapy for urinary tract infections. Quantitative stool cultures for C. albicans were performed before, at the end and 1 week after the end of treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The prevalence of urine leakage and care-seeking rates of women 35-75 years of age who visited GPs in two rural areas of Crete were investigated.
Participants: All the women who visited their family physician in two primary care units during the period of August to November 1997 (N = 251) were asked if they had experienced symptoms of involuntary urine leakage. A set of questions was addressed to the women who replied positively.
Purpose: To access the safety and effectiveness of Double-J-stents in treating symptomatic hydronephrosis during pregnancy.
Material And Methods: From 1994 to 1999, 21 women were hospitalized in the Urology Clinic at the University Hospital of Crete. Fourteen patients presented acute pyelonephritis, six painful hydronephrosis and one spontaneous renal rupture.
Purpose: We investigated the incidence of genetic alterations in urine specimens from patients with bladder cancer.
Materials And Methods: A total of 28 cytological urine specimens were assessed for microsatellite alternations, and 15 microsatellite markers were located on p53, RB1 and p16 regions. In 15 patients DNA from tumor specimens was also available.
This paper reviews bladder augmentation, which has been proved to be an effective way of providing a well functioning urine reservoir that protects the upper urinary tract and allows patients to have a good quality of life. Good results have been achieved with the use of all types of bowel segments. Lifetime follow-up and recognition of the complications is mandatory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBetween February 1994 and March 1995, 52 patients (48 men and 4 women) with vesical lithiasis were treated by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), using the MPL 9000-X Dornier lithotriptor. Twenty-five patients showed bladder outlet obstruction. In 9 patients, there was evidence of associated bladder neuropathy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo unusual cases of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis studied by both magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, are presented. Extension of the disease depicted by both computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging was compatible with the findings at surgery. Computed tomography seems to be sufficient for xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis imaging evaluation, while magnetic resonance imaging is not recommended on a routine basis, since no additional valuable information is yielded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the incidence of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MI) in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and to determine a possible activation of H-ras oncogene in these tumours via implication of its polymorphic regions within the first intron and 3' ends.
Methods: In the present study, we investigated the incidence of MI and LOH in 22 RCCs, using a bank of 8 microsatellite markers located on chromosomes 2 (IL1A), 3 (D3S1234), 8 (MYC), 14 (D14S51) and 17 (THRA1, D17S250, D17S579). We also studied the microsatellite DNA of the H-ras oncogene within the first intron (HRM) and the minisatellite DNA of the variable tandem repeat (VTR), which is located 1,000 bp downstream of the H-ras gene and possesses enhancer activity, for genetic instability.
Objective: To develop an animal model of partial detrusorectomy (autoaugmentation) and thus avoid the consequences of the direct contact of intestinal mucosa with the urinary tract in bladder augmentation.
Materials And Methods: A diverticular urothelial bulge was created and patched with demucosalized segments of small bowel (group A), stomach (group B) and with lyophilized human dura mater (group C). The surgery was performed on 50 New Zealand rabbits which were compared with 10 control animals and killed at 2, 4 and 6 weeks after surgery.
The effects of antibiotics used for prophylaxis in women with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) on the aerobic intestinal flora were investigated. Twenty-one patients with recurrent UTIs were randomly divided into three groups. The patients of each group received monotherapy with oral norfloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or nitrofurantoin for one month.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is an inherited systemic disorder. Renal stones have a high rate of occurrence among patients with ADPKD and are a significant cause of morbidity in this disorder. Thirteen patients with ADPKD and symptomatic or obstructive renal stones presented to our hospital for evaluation and treatment with extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study we demonstrate the involvement of ras oncogenes in bladder cancer at the level of RNA overexpression. We examined 26 bladder specimens, consisting of paired tumor and adjacent normal tissue and found that H-ras transcripts were overexpressed in 39% of the specimens while K-ras and N-ras in 58% of total specimens. Each tumor specimen had a unique pattern of overexpression for the three ras genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report a case of an oncocytoma, coexisting with a non-functioning pheochromocytoma in a patient who was operated on for suspicion of a renal tumor with metastases to the ipsilateral adrenal gland. As oncocytoma is a relatively rare lesion of the kidney, estimated to account for approximately 3-5% of renal neoplasms, its coexistence with non-functioning pheochromocytoma, to the best of our knowledge, has not hitherto been described in the medical literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVas deferens ectopia is a rare congenital anomaly which is frequently associated with anorectal abnormalities. There have been 20 cases up to date with an ectopic vas deferens inserting into the ureter. Out of these 6 had a bilateral insertion and another 4 cases with an ectopic vas deferens inserting directly into the bladder, out of which 1 had a bilateral insertion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCystinuria is a rare cause of renal calculi, whose management presents a complex problem mainly due to the hardness and high recurrence rate of cystine stones. During the period 1987-1991, 28 established cases of cystine calculi were treated by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL). These cases were divided into 5 groups, according to the position and size of the stones, and each group then followed a specific regimen, either ESWL monotherapy or a combined treatment comprising an initial ESWL treatment followed by PCNL or vice versa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe reliability of suprapubic ultrasonography (SU) in assessing the size of the prostate was examined in 95 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Volumetric measurements of the prostate and the transition zone of the prostate (TZP) performed by SU were compared with corresponding measurements obtained by transrectal ultrasonography measurements obtained by transrectal ultrasonography (TU). A very strong correlation was found between suprapubically and transrectally performed measurements for both the total prostate gland (r = 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA case of mucinous adenocarcinoma probably originating in the renal pelvis of an ectopic pyelic kidney with infiltration of the adjacent urinary bladder is reported. Review of the literature shows that this is the 42nd case of such a tumor, the second one reported in the pelvis of an ectopic pyelic kidney, and the first infiltrating the urinary bladder.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral repetitive elements have been associated with and identified in the surrounding region and within the human c-H-ras1 gene. The polymorphism exhibited by these sites provides valuable information regarding the function and structure of the H-ras gene. We have investigated two such polymorphic sites: i) a hexanucleotide microsatellite region (HRMS) within intron 1 of H-ras and ii) the VTR region at the 3' end of the gene.
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