Long-term follow-up of composite bladder augmentation incorporating stomach in a multi-institutional cohort of patients with cloacal exstrophy

Updates on the Care of Cloacal Exstrophy

Cloacal exstrophy is the most severe congenital anomaly of the exstrophy-epispadias complex and is characterized by gastrointestinal, genitourinary, neurospinal, and musculoskeletal malformations. Individualized surgical reconstruction by a multidisciplinary team is required for these complex patients. Not infrequently, patients need staged surgical procedures throughout childhood and adolescence. Following significant improvements in medical care and surgical reconstructive techniques, nearly all patients with cloacal exstrophy now survive, leading to an increased emphasis on quality of life. Increased attention is given to gender identity and the implications of reconstructive decisions. Long-term sequelae of cloacal exstrophy, including functional continence and sexual dysfunction, are recognized, and many patients require ongoing complex care into adulthood.

The clinical features of patients who underwent bladder augmentation of cloacal exstrophy and their functional outcomes: the results of a nationwide survey in Japan

PURPOSE

Cloacal exstrophy (CE) patients may need bladder reconstruction after initially undergoing surgery to obtain continence and improve their quality of life. This study attempts to clarify the clinical features of CE patients who underwent bladder augmentation (BA) and their urinary functional outcomes based on a nationwide survey in Japan.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey was conducted, and 150 CE patients were enrolled. Their clinical characteristics and urinary outcomes were reviewed.

RESULTS

BA was performed in 52 patients (34.7%). Most cases underwent early bladder closure at initial surgery in neonate period. The age at the BA was performed 6.4 [6-9.0] years. Among them, the most used organ for BA was ileum (n = 30, 57.7%). Regarding the outcomes, the age when the renal function was evaluated was 14.0 [10.0-20.5] years and the serum creatinine level was 0.44 [0.36-0.60] (mg/dl). Clean intermittent catheterization was required in 37 (71.2%) patients. On the other hand, no dialysis or kidney transplantation was necessary in any of these patients.

CONCLUSION

The renal function and conditions of patients who underwent BA were relatively well preserved. Individualized management with a stepwise surgical approach for CE patients should thus be considered in the future.

Long-term outcomes of augmentation cystoplasty: A retrospective view of 54 children

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Throughout the years, clinicians dealing with pediatric urology disorders have resorted to bladder augmentation (BA), a demanding surgical procedure, to preserve renal functions in sundry congenital urinary tract defects. This study aimed to reveal the very long-term outcomes of BA in a large sample of pediatric patients and the role of underlying disease on renal prognosis after BA.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 54 children with congenital urinary defects who underwent BA. The utilized augmentation technique, the location of ureter implantation, complications, and ultrasonography findings were analyzed. Data on serum creatinine levels were collected from preoperative records and anniversaries following BA.

RESULTS

Among 54 children, 33 (61.1%) were boys. Diagnoses were spinal dysraphism (SD) (n = 13), posterior urethral valve (PUV) (n = 8), bladder exstrophy (n = 32) and trauma (n = 1). The median follow-up duration was 18 (3-31) years. The comparisons of serum creatinine levels between groups revealed that, despite no meaningful difference was present between bladder exstrophy and PUV group in the preoperative period and postoperative 1st year, cases with PUV had significantly higher levels of serum creatinine levels in the following postoperative years. Therewithal compared with the SD group, subjects with PUV had significantly higher levels at the postoperative 2nd year (P = .035) and 10th year (P = .006).

CONCLUSIONS

In our study, significantly long-term follow-up outcomes could facilitate the pre- and postoperative approach for enterocystoplasty in children. According to our results, it is noteworthy that kidney functions are at high risk of worsening in subjects with PUV and underwent BA.

Long-term active problems in patients with cloacal exstrophy: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Cloacal exstrophy (CE) is the most severe end of the Exstrophy-Epispadias Complex malformations spectrum. Improvements in postnatal management and well-established operative techniques have resulted in survival rates approaching 100%. This systematic review aims to define the prevalence of long-term active medical problems affecting CE patients after the first decade of life.

METHODS

PubMed/Medline, Embase, Scopus, and ISI Web of Knowledge databases were used for the literature search. Original articles related to medical, surgical, and psychosocial long-term problems in CE patients >10 years of age were included in the study. Quality assessment of the articles was performed through the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Prevalence estimates and 95% CI were assessed for each outcome.

RESULTS

Twelve studies were included. The most common long-term active problems identified were: urinary incontinence with a prevalence ranging from 9.1% to 85%; sexual function issues related to vaginal anomalies with a prevalence ranging from 8.3% to 71.3%, and uterine anomalies, with a prevalence from 14.3% to 71%; gender identity issues in 46, XY patients raised female had a prevalence from 11.1% to 66.7%. There is no documented history of paternity. Impairment of ambulatory capacity was recorded in 13.8% of patients. Only one paper studied psychological well-being, reporting significantly higher levels of depression among gender reassigned patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Teenagers and adults born with CE have well defined long-term problems compared to the general population. Recognition and expert management are crucial to improve care and quality of life during and after the transition into adulthood.

Bladder augmentation in children: current problems and experimental strategies for reconstruction

Bladder augmentation is a demanding surgical procedure and exclusively offered for selected children and has only a small spectrum of indications. Paediatric bladder voiding dysfunction occurs either on a basis of neurological dysfunction caused by congenital neural tube defects or on a basis of rare congenital anatomic malformations. Neurogenic bladder dysfunction often responds well to a combination of specific drugs and/or intermittent self-catheterization. However, selected patients with spinal dysraphism and children with congenital malformations like bladder exstrophy and resulting small bladder capacity might require bladder augmentation. Ileocystoplasty is the preferred method of bladder augmentation to date. Because of the substantial long-and short-term morbidity of augmentation cystoplasty, recent studies have tried to incorporate new techniques and technologies, such as the use of biomaterials to overcome or reduce the adverse effects. In this regard, homografts and allografts have been implemented in bladder augmentation with varying results, but recent studies have shown promising data in terms of proliferation of urothelium and muscle cells by using biological silk grafts.