A pictorial view on false positive findings of Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT and their prognostic value in patients with prostate carcinoma after radical prostatectomy and undetectable PSA values.

Objective: Recently, gallium-68-prostate-specific membrane antigen-11 (Ga-PSMA-11) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has become a key imaging method in prostate carcinoma staging and biochemical progression, with varying sensitivities in different studies (from 40% to 80%). After four years of experience with Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT, we found that it is possible to detect lesions with increased PSMA expression in patients with undetectable prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels after radical prostatectomy. The key questions we wanted to answer were as follows: if those lesions were malignant and could the early detection of those malignant lesions have a role in patient management? We aimed to identify and follow up PSMA-positive findings for a period of 4 years in patients with prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy and undetectable PSA values at the time of the examination.

The challenge to prove a rare cause of secondary arterial hypertension. A case report of a pediatric renal solitary fibrous tumor.

Background: Childhood hypertension is getting more attention in recent years. We present a case report of a rare cause of secondary arterial hypertension in a teenage girl - a solitary fibrous tumor of the kidney. The case demonstrates that standard imaging techniques, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, are not fully reliable in the diagnosis of renovascular hypertension.

Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in Bulgarian patients with prostate cancer: a pilot study.

Background: The antiproliferative effect of the active form of vitamin D on cancer cells and its ability to induce cell differentiation and suppression of tumor-induced angiogenesis in the last decade has provoked enormous research for the elucidation of its role in the prevention of different types of cancer and in slowing down the malignancy progression. The aim of the present pilot study was to determine the circulating 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) levels in Bulgarian prostate cancer (PCa) patients and to investigate their relationship with various determinants associated with the severity and progression of the disease.

Methods: A total of 53 male patients (mean age 67.

Validation of nomograms predicting lymph node involvement in patients with prostate cancer undergoing extended pelvic lymph node dissection.

Our aim was to validate Briganti's nomograms predicting the probability of lymph node involvement (LNI) in prostate cancer (PCa). Clinicopathological data of 256 PCa patients who underwent extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) and radical prostatectomy (RP) were obtained from two Bulgarian institutions. Predicted probabilities of LNI were assessed using Briganti's nomograms based on ePLND.

Laparoscopic transperitoneal renal cyst decortication.

The aim of this study was to report our experience with the llaparoscopic transperitoneal treatment of simple renal cysts, to analyze the immediate and long-term clinical outcomes, and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this miniinvasive surgical technique. Between 2009 and 2014 we diagnosed and treated a total of 48 patients with symptomatic simple renal cysts. The diagnosis was set up by ultrasound (US) and/or computed tomography (CT) examination.

Radical Prostatectomy as a First-Line Treatment in Patients with Initial PSA >20 ng/mL.

Initial PSA >20 ng/mL is generally considered an adverse prognostic feature in prostate cancer (PCa). Our goals were to estimate the impact of radical prostatectomy (RP) on biochemical recurrence- (BCR-) free and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates of PCa patients with PSA >20 ng/mL, and to identify patients with favorable oncological outcome. Using 20 ng/mL as a cut-point value, 205 PCa patients, who underwent RP, were stratified into two groups.

Gangrenous cystitis: report of a case and review of the literature.

Gangrenous cystitis is an extremely rare condition: only a total of 240 cases worldwide have been reported so far. Most of these cases have occurred in the preantibiotic era. After the advent and widespread use of antibiotics in clinical practice, only sporadic cases have been observed.

Surgery for renal cell carcinoma in two European urologic clinics: to compare or compete?

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the incidence, TNM staging and the current strate- gy for the surgical treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in two European urologic institutions, situated in Varna, Bulgaria and in Bari, Italy. Both clinics have sound experience of RCC surgery, and modern laparoscopic equipment. A retrospective chart review of all patients with RCC diagnosed and treated in the last year was conducted at the two sites.