Torsade de pointes (TdP) observed during general anesthesia for cerebral aneurysm clipping in a patient with QT prolongation

A 55-year-old woman underwent emergency cerebral aneurysm clipping for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Her past and family history was unremarkable. Preoperative blood examinations were within normal ranges except for a slight decrease in serum potassium level. ECG showed a prolonged QTc interval (0.54 sec). General anesthesia was induced with propofol, fentanyl and vecuronium, and maintained with 1-1.5% sevoflurane, 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen and intermitted doses of fentanyl. About three hours after starting the operation, bigeminal pulse appeared followed by torsade de pointes. This arrhythmia returned to sinus rhythm by continuous infusion of lidocaine, and operation was performed completely. At the end of the operation, prolonged QT interval (QTc 0.71 sec) was noted. Her postoperative course was unremarkable and she was discharged on postoperative day 44. QT prolongation is a frequently seen ECG abnormality in a patient with SAH. In anesthetic management in this situation, it is important to monitor QT interval closely as well as to use anesthetics that would not exacerbate QT interval prolongation.     

Trans-sacral resection of a solitary fibrous tumor in the pelvis: Report of a case

Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) develop most commonly in the pleura, although they have occasionally been reported to arise in the pelvic cavity. We report a case of an SFT presenting as a painless nodule in the pelvis of a 56-year-old woman. Histologically, the tumor was composed of spindle-shaped cells arranged without pattern, with short and narrow fascicles and interspersed bundles of thick collagen, and numerous blood vessels with a focally hemangiopericytoma-like appearance. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells strongly expressed vimentin, CD34, and bcl-2. The tumor was excised via a trans-sacral approach, without preoperative transcatheter embolization, and the patient remains well more than 2 years after her operation. To our knowledge, this is the first case of an SFT in the pelvis, which was excised completely via a trans-sacral approach.     

JUA clinical guidelines for benign prostatic hyperplasia

The Japanese Urological Association has developed Clinical Guidelines for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) for men with suspected BPH. This article is an English translation of the abridged version of the Guidelines. The Guidelines were formulated on the basis of evidence retrieved from the PubMed database between 1995 and 2009, as well as other relevant sources. The target patients of these Guidelines are men with suspected BPH, and the target users are urologists. A mandatory assessment should include a medical history, a physical examination, the completion of symptom and quality of life questionnaires, a urinalysis, a prostate ultrasonography, measurement of serum prostate specific antigen and postvoid residual urine, and uroflowmetry. Optional tests include keeping a bladder diary, the measurement of serum creatinine, and upper urinary tract ultrasonography. Care should be taken to not overlook coexisting diseases such as infections or malignancies that may obscure the diagnosis. Treatment should consist of conservative therapy or the use of medications such as α₁‐adrenoceptor antagonists, or both. The use of 5α‐reductase inhibitors or anticholinergic agents should be considered in patients with an enlarged prostate (>30 mL) or overactive bladder symptoms (Overactive Bladder Symptom Score ≥6), respectively. Surgical intervention is indicated when non‐surgical treatments fail to provide sufficient symptomatic relief, and when bladder outlet obstruction is highly suspected.     

Evaluation of long-term outcome for patients with renal cell carcinoma after surgery: analysis of cancer deaths occurring more than 10 years after initial treatment

Objective

We evaluated the outcome of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after surgery in a long-term follow-up study to elucidate the specific biological behaviors of RCC, such as late recurrence and late cancer-specific death.

Materials and methods

We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and pathological features of 625 patients who were diagnosed as having renal cell carcinoma at our institution from 1975 to 2006. We analyzed the parameters and outcomes for the patients who had received radical or partial nephrectomy. Pathological staging was reviewed again by two pathologists.

Results

The median age of the patients was 61 years (range 16–87). The median follow-up was 7.0 years (range 0.1–30.3). Of the 516 patients with localized or locally advanced RCC, 124 (24.0 %) had recurrence after surgery. Lung metastasis was observed most frequently. The 10-year cancer-specific survival rates were 92.4, 91.0, 64.1 and 11.8 % for stages I, II, III and IV, respectively. The late recurrence rates in patients with localized and locally advanced RCC 5 and 10 years after initial surgery were 8.5 and 3.7 %, respectively. Cancer death more than 10 years after initial treatment of the disease occurred in 16 patients. Of the 16 patients, 9 had localized disease at the time of the initial surgery. Specific findings that characterized them were not identified in these patients.

Conclusions

Late recurrence of RCC is not rare. Cancer-specific death more than 10 years after the initial treatment was observed in 16 patients with localized or advanced disease. No specific findings were identified to characterize these patients with late cancer death.     

Transurethral prostate biopsy before radical cystectomy remains clinically relevant for decision-making on urethrectomy in patients with bladder cancer

Background

This study retrospectively evaluated the clinical relevance of transurethral prostate biopsy (TUPB) before radical cystectomy by comparing the pathology of prostatic urethra biopsy specimens with that of cystectomy specimens.

Methods

Of 294 patients who underwent cystectomy and urinary diversion, 101 men with preoperative TUPB were included in this study. For these patients, if the result of TUPB was positive for urothelial carcinoma, we performed urethrectomy as a rule. If it was negative, we presented the option of urethral preservation and decided the final type of urinary reconstruction. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) of TUPB were assessed, and we investigated the number of final urethral recurrences. We also tried to identify which clinical and pathological findings by TUPB most accurately predicted the disease remaining in the prostate of cystectomy specimens.

Results

Of the 25 patients with positive TUPB, 18 had disease in the prostatic urethra or stroma of cystectomy specimens. There were 3 patients with negative TUPB but with involvement of the prostate in cystectomy specimens. Thus, TUPB achieved 86% sensitivity, 91% specificity, 72% PPV, and 96% NPV. Two patients (1.9%) had urethral recurrence in this period. Among the findings for TUPB, non-papillary tumors most accurately predicted the disease in the prostate of cystectomy specimens.

Conclusions

TUPB achieved a high NPV and the urethral recurrence rate was acceptable. If TUPB was negative, patients could have chance urethral preservation. Thus, our clinical decision for urethrectomy based on the result of TUPB is still useful.     

Short-term functional and oncological outcomes of partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma in patients with an anatomically or functionally solitary kidney: single-center experience

Background

We retrospectively investigated short-term functional and oncological outcomes of partial nephrectomy (PN) for the anatomically or functionally solitary kidney in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Methods

Between 1993 and 2011, 193 partial nephrectomies were performed and 16 (8.3 %) had an imperative indication in our institution. The patients’ characteristics, peri- and postoperative complications, surgical margin status and postoperative changes in estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) were assessed.

Results

The median follow-up period was 31.2 months and median age was 69.5 years. Open and laparoscopic PN were performed for 13 and 2 patients, respectively. One patient received ex-vivo PN followed by autotransplantation. There was no case with a positive surgical margin. All patients survived at the final day of observation. Median preoperative eGFR was 48.67 mL/min/1.73 m² and the reduction rate of eGFR at 3 months after operation was 20.9 % (0–50.2). Three patients (18.8 %) required temporary hemodialysis after operation and all these patients had stage 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) before operation. Only one patient needed chronic hemodialysis at 8 months after operation.

Conclusions

PN can be performed safely and provides feasible functional and oncological outcomes. Preoperative CKD stage 4 patients may have a risk of temporary hemodialysis in the perioperative period.     

Prognostic value of surgical margin status for biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the preoperative parameters to predict a positive surgical margin (SM) at radical prostatectomy for patients with prostate cancer. In addition, the prognostic factors for biochemical recurrence were determined in patients with positive SMs. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 238 patients with prostate cancer who underwent retropubic radical prostatectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection from May 1985 to July 2005 in our hospital. Biochemical recurrence was defined as an increase of undetectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to 0.2 ng/ml or greater. RESULTS: Of the 238, 82 patients (34.4%) had positive SMs. On multivariate analysis, preoperative PSA (>/=10 ng/ml), clinical T stage (>/=T2a) and the positive core rate (>/=35%) were parameters that could predict a positive SM. During the median follow-up of 31.2 months, 48 patients (20.2%) developed biochemical recurrence. The 5-year biochemical progression-free survival rates were 81.7% and 62.6% in patients with negative and positive SMs, respectively (P < 0.001). In the Cox proportional hazards model, preoperative PSA of >/=20 ng/ml and a pathological T stage of pT3a/pT3b were significant risk factors for biochemical recurrence in patients with positive SMs. CONCLUSIONS: SM status at radical prostatectomy depends on preoperative PSA, clinical stage and the positive core rate. Patients with a positive SM had a higher risk for biochemical recurrence than those with a negative one. Patients with a positive margin had a higher risk for biochemical recurrence if they exhibited preoperative PSA of >/=20 ng/ml and/or pathological T stage of pT3a/pT3b.     

Serious complications of intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin therapy in patients with bladder cancer]

Side effects and serious complications of intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy were reviewed in 120 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder from October, 1983 to June, 1989 at Hirosaki University Hospital. As local side effects, 102 patients (85.0%) had bladder irritability with frequency and/or micturition pain, and 46 patients (38.3%) had hematopyuria. As systemic side effects, fever in 43 patients (35.8%), elevation of serum GOT, GPT in 9 patients (7.5%), and malaise in 3 patients (2.5%) were seen. Serious complications were observed in 7 patients. 4 patients had a severely contracted bladder with decreased compliance less than 50 ml, 2 patients had persistent arthritis and one patient had interstitial pneumonia. In all 4 patients with a contracted bladder partial cystectomy was performed before or after intravesical BCG therapy, and three of them received more than ten times instillation of BCG. It was suggested that contracted bladder most likely occurred after frequent BCG instillations in addition to decreased bladder compliance. Contracted bladder was irreversible in 2 patients. Histopathologically, there was marked fibrosis in the muscular layer of the bladder without tuberculous inflammatory changes. It might depend on the severity of fibrosis in the muscular layer whether contracted bladder was reversible or not. Persistent arthritis was nonspecific inflammation with negative culture results for mycobacteria in the joint fluid in 2 patients. In one patient with interstitial pneumonia, fiberoptic bronchoscopy with transbronchial lung biopsy demonstrated marked fibrosis of alveolar septums and increased lymphocyte count without tuberculous inflammatory changes. The pathogenesis of this complications is considered to be a hypersensitivity reaction to BCG.     

Transurethral balloon laser thermotherapy induces long-lasting apoptosis of prostatic smooth muscle cells in human prostatic hyperplasia

Transurethral balloon laser thermotherapy (TUBAL-T) has been developed recently as a noninvasive treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), but the cellular events occurrmg after TUBAL-T were not yet fully understood. We examined prostate tissues by electron microscopy and the DNA nick end-labeling method at 2 and 4 weeks after a single TUBAL-T treatment in an attempt to elucidate the mechanism by which TUBAL-T progressively improves obstructive complications of patients with BPH. Condensation of chromatin at the nuclear margin was observed in prostatic smooth muscle cells (PSMCs) located in the area adjacent to periurethral coagulative necrosis. PSMCs with condensed chromatin were often accompanied by cytoplasmic vacuoles in perinuclear areas. Application of the nick end-labeling method at the light microscopic level revealed that most PSMC nuclei were positive for terminal TdT-mediated dUTP-dioxygenic nick end-labeling (TUNEL) staining. These results strongly suggested that long-standing apoptosis is induced in PSMCs by TUBAL-T. as well as massive coagulative necrosis of prostatic tissues. The role of apoptosis in PSMCs in the clinical improvement of outlet obstruction after TUBAL-T is discussed.     

Interleukin-6 in renal cell carcinoma.

We studied interleukin-6 production in 4 human renal cell carcinoma cell lines and measured the serum level in 71 patients with renal cell carcinoma, thus, clarifying a relationship between interleukin-6 secretion and an occurrence of the paraneoplastic syndrome in the carcinoma. Interleukin-6 was produced by 3 cell lines and detected in 25% of the patients. The level of interleukin-6 did not directly correlate with tumor volume and the differentiation grade of the carcinoma. However, the positive rate increased with progression of the stage. The serum level affected the 5-year survival of patients without distant metastasis. When serum interleukin-6 was elevated patients had a significantly higher frequency of unexplained fever and an elevation of acute phase proteins. These results suggest that some renal cell carcinomas can produce interleukin-6 and this cytokine is responsible for several paraneoplastic syndromes in the carcinoma.