Urinary aquaporin 1 and perilipin 2: Can these novel markers accurately characterize small renal masses and help guide patient management?

Objective: To evaluate the role of urine aquaporin 1 and perilipin 2 as biomarkers adjunct to renal mass biopsy in guiding the management of patients with small renal masses.

Methods: Preoperative aquaporin 1 and perilipin 2 levels in 57 patients with small renal masses undergoing partial nephrectomy were analyzed and compared with postoperative tumor histology. An algorithm was created utilizing aquaporin 1 and perilipin 2 in conjunction with renal mass biopsy.

Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Findings of Fat-Poor Angiomyolipomas.

Introduction: Approximately 5% of angiomyolipomas (AMLs) are classified as "fat poor" due to lack of visually detectable fat on imaging, making them difficult to distinguish from renal cell carcinoma. Recent investigations have proposed CT and MR imaging features suggestive of fat-poor AML (fp-AML). Herein, we determined the frequency of these features in a cohort of fp-AMLs by retrospective review of preoperative imaging.

Urine aquaporin 1 and perilipin 2 differentiate renal carcinomas from other imaged renal masses and bladder and prostate cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of urine aquaporin 1 (AQP1) and perilipin 2 (PLIN2) concentrations to diagnose clear cell or papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) by comparing urine concentrations of these unique biomarkers in patients with RCC, noncancer renal masses, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer.

Methods: From February 1, 2012, through October 31, 2012, preoperative urine samples were obtained from patients with a presumptive diagnosis of RCC based on an imaged renal mass, prostate cancer, or transitional cell bladder cancer. Imaged renal masses were diagnosed postnephrectomy—as malignant or benign—by histology.

Patients with pathologically proven renal disease have similar declines in renal function following robot-assisted partial nephrectomy.

Objective: To determine if patients with pathological, medical renal disease, defined as evidence of pathological abnormalities indicative of renal damage in the non-neoplastic partial nephrectomy specimens, have worsened functional outcomes following robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN).

Materials And Methods: Sixty patients with and 101 without pathologically proven renal disease on non-neoplastic renal specimens were evaluated for differences in postoperative outcomes following RPN. Multiple linear regression modeling assessed for factors influencing early and late declines in renal function.

Port site metastasis after surgery for renal cell carcinoma: harbinger of future metastasis.

Purpose: Port site metastasis is a rare occurrence after minimally invasive treatment for renal cell carcinoma. However, its prognostic implications are unclear because reports in the literature are heterogeneous in detail and followup. We clarify the significance of port site metastasis in cancer specific survival and broaden our understanding of this phenomenon.

In vivo evaluation of a reverse thermosensitive polymer for ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy: porcine model.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of a reverse thermosensitive polymer during ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy in an in vivo porcine model.

Materials And Methods: Six pigs underwent general anesthesia followed by bilateral ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy of stone phantoms while measuring intrapelvic renal pressures through bilateral nephrostomy tubes. The procedures were performed in one ureter with the reverse thermosensitive polymer and in the contralateral, control ureter without the reverse thermosensitive polymer.

Urinary concentrations of aquaporin-1 and perilipin-2 in patients with renal cell carcinoma correlate with tumor size and stage but not grade.

Objective: To evaluate the trends in urine aquaporin-1 (AQP1) and perilipin 2 (PLIN2) concentrations in patients with clear cell and papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC), we determined the relationship between the urine concentration of these biomarkers and tumor size, grade, and stage.

Materials And Methods: The biomarker concentrations were determined by sensitive and specific Western blot procedures normalized to the urine creatinine excretion. The analysis included 61 patients undergoing partial or radical nephrectomy for clear cell or papillary RCC and 43 age- and sex-matched control patients.

The second "time-out": a surgical safety checklist for lengthy robotic surgeries.

Robotic surgeries of long duration are associated with both increased risks to patients as well as distinct challenges for care providers. We propose a surgical checklist, to be completed during a second "time-out", aimed at reducing peri-operative complications and addressing obstacles presented by lengthy robotic surgeries. A review of the literature was performed to identify the most common complications of robotic surgeries with extended operative times.

Gas-producing renal infection presenting as pneumaturia: a case report.

We present a case of persistent pneumaturia of one-year duration in a fifty-five-year-old male with a history of spinal cord injury. The evaluation demonstrated gas throughout the collecting system attributable to a urinary tract infection with a gas-forming organism, Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Fibroepithelial polyp of the ureter presenting incidentally in a patient with a diverticular abscess.

We report on a patient with a fibroepithelial polyp of the distal ureter in whom the diagnosis was made incidentally while being examined for a diverticular abscess draining into the vagina. This patient's lack of symptoms and a possible relationship with the diverticular abscess is also explored.