Outcomes of Robot-assisted Appendiceal Ureteroplasty From a Multi-institutional Experience.

Objective: To evaluate the viability of robot-assisted appendiceal ureteroplasty as an innovative surgical approach for the reconstruction of ureteral strictures in cases where traditional methods are unsuitable.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 14 patients who underwent robot-assisted appendiceal ureteroplasty for right-sided ureteral stricture disease at three academic centers between March 2018 and November 2022. Patients were selected based on stricture characteristics, tissue quality, and the need for tissue transfer techniques.

Outcomes of Urethroplasty for Synchronous Anterior Urethral Stricture Utilizing the Trauma and Urologic Reconstruction Network of Surgeons Length, Segment and Etiology Anterior Urethral Stricture Classification System.

Objective: To describe the characteristics, management, and functional outcomes of patients with synchronous urethral stricture disease (SUSD) utilizing a multi-institutional cohort.

Methods: Data were collected and assessed from a prospectively maintained, multi-institutional database. Patients who underwent anterior urethroplasty for urethral stricture disease (USD) were included and stratified by the presence or absence of SUSD.

Real-time estimation of nephron activity with a linear measurement system (RENAL-MS) predicts postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate.

Objective: To determine whether a simple point-of-care measurement system estimating renal parenchymal volume using tools ubiquitously available could be used to replace nuclear medicine renal scintigraphy (NMRS) in current clinical practice to predict estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) after nephrectomy by estimating preoperative split renal function.

Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients who underwent abdominal cross-sectional imaging (computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging) and mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) NMRS prior to total nephrectomy at a single institution. We developed the real-time estimation of nephron activity with a linear measurement system (RENAL-MS) method of estimating postoperative renal function via the following technique: renal parenchymal volume of the removed kidney relative to the remaining kidney was estimated as the product of renal length and the average of six renal parenchymal thickness measurements.

The Delayed Nephrogram: Point-of-care Quantitative Measurement, Validation as an Indicator of Obstruction, and Novel Use as a Predictor of Renal Functional Impairment.

Background: The diagnostic value of delayed nephrograms on contrast-enhanced computed tomography has not been studied rigorously.

Objective: To develop a method for quantitatively assessing delayed and diminished nephrograms (DDNs) easily at the point of care and to assess the association of DDNs with renal obstruction and renal function.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Data were reviewed from 76 patients who underwent a contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan within 30 days of a technetium-99m mercaptoacetyltriglycine diuretic renal scintigraphy (MAG3-DRS) which showed at least one kidney to have normal drainage (T1/2 <10 min) between 2010 and 2021 at a tertiary academic center.

Rethinking the routine: Preoperative laboratory testing among American Society of Anesthesiologists class 1 and 2 patients before low-risk ambulatory surgery in the 2017 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program cohort.

Background: Routine preoperative laboratory testing is not recommended for American Society of Anesthesiologists classification 1 or 2 patients before low-risk ambulatory surgery.

Methods: The 2017 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data set was retrospectively queried for American Society of Anesthesiologists class 1 and 2 patients who underwent low-risk, elective outpatient anorectal, breast, endocrine, gynecologic, hernia, otolaryngology, oral-maxillofacial, orthopedic, plastic/reconstructive, urologic, and vascular operations. Preoperative laboratory testing was defined as any chemistry, hematology, coagulation, or liver function studies obtained ≤30 days preoperatively.

A review of technical progression in the robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Since the advent of the robotic surgery, its implementation in urology has been both wide and rapid. Particularly in extirpative surgery for prostate cancer, techniques in robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy have-and continue to-evolve to maximize functional and oncologic outcomes. In this review, we briefly present a historical perspective of the evolution of various robotic techniques, allowing us to contextualize contemporary robotic approaches to radical prostatectomy.

Nephrobiliary fistula resulting from a gunshot wound in a young healthy male: A case report.

Biliary fistulas are most commonly caused by cholelithiasis. Other causes include malignancies and peptic ulcer disease. A biliary fistula caused by a penetrating trauma is a rare entity, and a post-traumatic biliary fistula to the renal collecting system is extremely uncommon.

Robotic Ureteroplasty with Buccal Mucosa Graft for the Management of Complex Ureteral Strictures.

Purpose: Surgical management of proximal and mid ureteral strictures that are not amenable to primary excision and anastomosis is challenging. Although a buccal mucosa graft is commonly used during substitution urethroplasty, its use in substitution ureteroplasty is limited. We describe our technique of robotic ureteroplasty with a buccal mucosa graft to manage complex ureteral strictures and we report our outcomes.

Multifocal Renal Fungal Abscesses.

We report a case of multiple fungal renal abscesses in a 36-year-old woman with a history of diabetes and intravenous substance use disorder. The patient presented with fever and hematuria, and was found to be bacteremic and fungemic. She was initially managed with broad-spectrum antibiotics and antifungals.

Hospitalized pain patients have recently doubled: a retrospective case series study in Shenzhen Nanshan People's Hospital of China.

Aim: To study the characteristics of hospitalized pain patients in Shenzhen with the aim of identifying some of the social, economic and therapeutic aspects of pain management in China.

Methods: A retrospective study was designed to collect the information of 3061 hospitalized pain patients in 2003, 2007 and 2011. Their demographic characteristics, diagnoses of pain types, hospitalization, therapeutic effect, economic cost and payment types were analyzed.

The Origin, Expression, Function and Future Research Focus of a G Protein-coupled Receptor, Mas-related Gene X2 (MrgX2).

Mas-related genes (Mrgs) belong to a large family of G protein-coupled receptor genes found in rodents. Human MRGX proteins are G protein-coupled 7-transmembrane proteins sharing 41-52% amino acid identity with each other, but have no orthologs in rodents. MrgX2 is a member of the MrgX family.

Propidium iodide (PI) stains Nissl bodies and may serve as a quick marker for total neuronal cell count.

Propidium iodide (PI) reacts with both DNA and RNA and is a commonly used fluorescent reagent for nucleic acid staining. The aim of the study was to compare the cellular staining patterns of PI with that of Nissl staining in rat nervous tissues and to report a modified staining method that selectively labels Nissl bodies in neurons. Cryosections and paraffin sections of different tissues of normal Sprague-Dawley rats, including trigeminal ganglia, dorsal root ganglia, spinal cord, liver, and small intestine, were stained by either PI or the hematoxylin and eosin method.

Hepatocyte growth factor promotes long-term survival and axonal regeneration of retinal ganglion cells after optic nerve injury: comparison with CNTF and BDNF.

Aims: Different trophic factors are known to promote retinal ganglion cell survival and regeneration, but each had their own limitations. We report that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) confers distinct advantages in supporting ganglion cell survival and axonal regeneration, when compared to two well-established trophic factors ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Methods: Ganglion cells in adult hamster were injured by cutting the optic nerve.

Remote ischemic postconditioning promotes the survival of retinal ganglion cells after optic nerve injury.

Ischemic conditioning, the application of a mild ischemic stimulus to an ischemia-sensitive structure like the heart or brain either before (preconditioning) or after (postconditioning) its exposure to a lethal ischemic insult, is known to switch on endogenous protective mechanisms. However, most studies of its neuroprotective effect in the central nervous system (CNS) have focused on ischemic damage or related conditions like hypoxia, while its potential in treating other neural diseases remains uncertain. In particular, the recent discovery of remote ischemic postconditioning whereby mild ischemia applied to a region remote from the target after the main ischemic insult also confers protection offers an attractive paradigm to study its potential in other types of neural injury.

Anti-tumor action of trichosanthin, a type 1 ribosome-inactivating protein, employed in traditional Chinese medicine: a mini review.

Trichosanthin (TCS) as a midterm abortifacient medicine has been used clinically in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Additionally, TCS manifests a host of pharmacological properties, for instance, anti-HIV and anti-tumor activities. TCS has been reported to inhibit cell growth of a diversity of cancers, including cervical cancer, choriocarcinoma, and leukemia/lymphoma, etc.

Different in vitro toxicity of ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) on sensory neurons and Schwann cells.

Objective: To study the neurotoxicity induced by Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA), ricin A chain (RTA), and trichosanthin (TCS) in vitro.

Methods: Rat neurons and Schwann cells were cultured and real-time up-take of RIPs was traced. TUNEL, Annexin V and DAPI were employed to study the mechanism.

Mechanism of the specific neuronal toxicity of a type I ribosome-inactivating protein, trichosanthin.

The aim was to study the mechanism of neuronal toxicity, the cellular pathway, and the glial cell reactions induced by trichosanthin (TCS), a type I ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP). Ricin A chain (RTA) was included for comparison. TCS, RTA, and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled TCS and RTA were separately injected into rat eyes.

Co-localization of hyperphosphorylated tau and caspases in the brainstem of Alzheimer's disease patients.

Hyperphosphorylation of microtubule associated protein tau had limited studies in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brainstem. We compared the distribution and number of neurons with hyperphosphorylated tau in two age groups of AD brainstems with mean ages of 65.4 +/- 5.

Lens epithelial cells promote regrowth of retinal ganglion cells in culture and in vivo.

Lens damage has been demonstrated to promote axonal regeneration of retinal ganglion cells. Various mechanisms associated with this enhancement have been proposed, including macrophage recruitment and stimulatory factors from the lesioned lens. Lens epithelial cells, which become activated as a result of injury, are another potential stimulus.