International Alliance of Urolithiasis (IAU) guideline on staghorn calculi management.

Background: The stone burden based management strategy reported in the guidelines published by different associations is well known for a long time. Staghorn calculi, representing the largest burden and most complex stones, is one of the most challenging cases to practicing urologists in clinical practice. The International Alliance of Urolithiasis (IAU) has released a series of guidelines on the management of urolithiasis.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy - the puncture.

Objective: To determine what importance is given to the puncture and assistive technologies in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) in the current urological literature.

Methods: PubMed was searched for English publications and reviews for the keywords: 'percutaneous nephrolithotomy', 'percutaneous nephrostomy', 'puncture'. The search was limited to the last 5 years, January 2016 until February 2021.

[Looking back on 50 years of stone treatment].

Urolithiasis is an urologist's daily business. This article provides an overview of the developments in the management of urinary stone disease since the 1970s. While conventional KUB X-rays and intravenous pyelography were standard imaging procedures in the past, computed tomography is the first choice today.

Intracorporeal lithotripsy.

Since the introduction of ESWL, PNL and URS during the early 1980s the application rate of ESWL has declined while those of PNL and URS have increased. This is mainly due to the facts that instruments and techniques for Intracorporeal Lithotripsy (IL) have made a continuous progress. This review shows that today an array of options for IL within the entire urinary tract is available to treat stones in a perfect minimal invasive way.

The economics of stone disease.

The rising prevalence of kidney stone disease is associated with significant costs to healthcare systems worldwide. This is in part due to direct procedural and medical management costs, as well as indirect costs to health systems, patients, and families. A number of manuscripts evaulating the economics of stone disease have been published since the 2008s International Consultation on Stone Disease.

Heart of Darkness.

Significant literature has an impact on the reader. Reading the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad as a young boy rose emotions comparable to those I felt when losing a patient after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) as a grown up. The case of a 37-year-old woman with bilateral staghorn and a fatal outcome after PCNL is presented and alternatives are discussed.

Positioning for percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

Purpose Of The Review: To highlight the progressive evolution of the issue of patient positioning for percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL), explain the history of the prone and supine positions, report respective advantages and drawbacks, critically interpret the past and current literature supporting such arguments, identify the best candidates for each position, and reflect on the future evolution of the two approaches.

Recent Findings: Positioning for PNL has become a matter of debate during the last decade. The traditional prone PNL position - most widely performed with good success and few complications, and exhibiting essentially no limits except for the treatment of pelvic kidneys - is nowadays flanked mainly by the supine and supine-modified positions, equally effective and probably safer from an anesthesiological point of view.

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: An opinion on its future.

The development of miniaturized nephroscopes which allow one-stage stone clearance with minimal morbidity has brought the role of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) in stone management into question. Design innovations in SWL machines over the last decade have attempted to address this problem. We reviewed the recent literature on SWL using a MEDLINE/PUBMED research.

The past, present and future of minimally invasive therapy in urology: a review and speculative outlook.

Introduction: Twenty-five years of SMIT represents an important date. In this article we want to elaborate the development of minimally invasive surgery in urology during the last three decades and try to look 25 years ahead.

Material And Methods: As classical scenarios to demonstrate the changes which have revolutionized surgical treatment in urology, we have selected the management of urolithiasis, renal tumour, and localized prostate cancer.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy and chronic kidney disease: results from the CROES PCNL Global Study.

Purpose: We compared the characteristics and outcomes of patients treated with percutaneous nephrolithotomy in the CROES (Clinical Research Office of the Endourological Society) Global Study according to preoperative renal function.

Materials And Methods: Prospective data on consecutive patients treated with percutaneous nephrolithotomy in a 1-year period were collected from 96 participating centers. The glomerular filtration rate was estimated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula based on preoperative serum creatinine measurement.

The clinical research office of the endourological society audit committee.

The Clinical Research Office of the Endourological Society (CROES) conducts large-scale, international, multicenter clinical trials in the field of endourology. One of the major challenges that these trials pose is to ensure that data collected remotely and online within a very short time frame are valid and reliable. This editorial describes a formal process for auditing the data by the CROES Audit Committee.

The Clinical Research Office of the Endourological Society Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy Global Study: tract dilation comparisons in 5537 patients.

Purpose: The study focused on the use of balloon or telescopic/serial dilation methods in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in the Global PCNL Study.

Patients And Methods: Centers worldwide provided data from consecutive patients who were treated with PCNL during a 1-year period. Tract dilation was performed using a balloon or telescopic/serial dilator.

Prolonged cold ischemia time for laparoscopic partial nephrectomy with a new cooling material: Freka-Gelice--a comparison of four cooling methods.

Background And Purpose: It is well known that hypothermia protects renal tissue from ischemic damage. So far, no standardized cooling method for laparoscopic surgery has been established. The traditionally used cooling method during open partial nephrectomy (OPN) is crushed ice applied around the kidney; for laparoscopic use, transarterial and transureteral perfusion cooling are described.

120 W lithium triborate laser for photoselective vaporization of the prostate: comparison with 80 W potassium-titanyl-phosphate laser in an ex-vivo model.

Purpose: To evaluate the ablative and hemostatic properties of the recently introduced 120 W lithium triborate (LBO) 532 nm laser and compare the results against the conventional 80 W potassium-titanyl-phosphate (KTP) laser.

Materials And Methods: The ex-vivo model of the isolated blood-perfused porcine kidney was used to determine the ablation capacity, hemostatic properties, and coagulation depth of the GreenLight HPS laser system (American Medical System, Minnetonka, MN) that used an output power of 120 W. The results were compared with the KTP laser that used output power levels of 30 W, 50 W, and 80 W.

Outcome of sigmoid compared to ileal orthotopic bladder substitution in terms of micturition and defecation parameters in an 8-year long-term follow-up.

Introduction: Various techniques have been described for orthotopic bladder substitution. Bladder substitution with sigma is rather classed as a useful alternative standby. We report the long-term results of sigmoid neobladder in comparison to ileal neobladder with respect to urodynamic and defecation parameters.

Paclitaxel encapsulated in cationic liposomes: a new option for neovascular targeting for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Neovascular targeting is an established approach for the therapy of prostate cancer (PCa). Cationic liposomes have been shown to be absorbed by immature vascular endothelial cells due to negative electric charge of their outer cell membrane. We aimed to evaluate the antitumoural efficacy of paclitaxel encapsulated in cationic liposomes for the treatment of PCa.

Two contemporary series of percutaneous tract dilation for percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

Dilation of the tract for percutaneous nephrolithotomy can be performed with three different basic techniques. A retrospective outcome analysis of two techniques-metal telescoping dilation and balloon dilation-in a contemporary series of two European departments shows no significant difference in morbidity related to the dilation procedure. A literature survey that concentrates on publications with a focus on tract dilation shows that balloon dilation is the most frequently performed, but the morbidity reported for the different techniques appears identical.

Does open stone surgery still play a role in the treatment of urolithiasis? Data of a primary urolithiasis center.

Objective: The introduction and continuous development of percutaneous nephrolithotomy, the achievement of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy, and the advancements in ureterorenoscopy have led to a revolution in the interventional management urolithiasis. The indications for open stone surgery have been narrowed significantly making it a second- or third-line treatment option. We report on patients undergoing open stone surgery for nephrolithiasis in our department during the last 10 years to examine our indications at a primary urolithiasis center and to determine the clinical situations in which open surgery is a reasonable alternative.