Multi-institutional Outcomes and Associations After Excision and Primary Anastomosis for Radiotherapy-associated Bulbomembranous Urethral Stenoses Following Prostate Cancer Treatment

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the outcomes of excision and primary anastomosis (EPA) for radiation-associated bulbomembranous stenoses using a multi-institutional analysis. The treatment of radiation-associated urethral stenosis is typically complex owing to the adverse impact of radiation on adjacent tissue.

METHODS

An IRB-approved multi-institutional retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent EPA for bulbomembranous urethral stenosis following prostate radiotherapy. Preoperative patient demographics, operative technique, and postoperative outcomes were abstracted from 1/2007-6/2018. Success was defined as voiding per urethra without the need for endoscopic treatment and a minimum follow-up of 12 months.

RESULTS

One hundred and thirty-seven patients from 10 centers met study criteria with a mean age of 69.3 years (50-86), stenosis length of 2.3 cm (1-5) and an 86.9% (119/137) success rate at a mean follow-up 32.3 months (12-118). Univariate Cox regression analysis identified increasing patient age (P = .02), stricture length (P <.0001) and combined modality radiotherapy (P = .004) as factors associated with stricture recurrence while body mass index (P = .79), diabetes (P = .93), smoking (P = .62), failed endoscopic treatment (P = .08) and gracilis muscle use (P = .25) were not. On multivariate analysis, increasing patient age (H.R.1.09, 95%CI 1.01-1.16; P = .02) and stenosis length (H.R.2.62, 95%CI 1.49-4.60; P = .001) remained associated with recurrence. Subsequent artificial urinary sphincter was performed in 30 men (21.9%), of which 25 required a transcorporal cuff and 5 developed cuff erosion.

CONCLUSIONS

EPA for radiation-associated urethral stenosis effectively provides unobstructed instrumentation-free voiding. However, increasing stenosis length and age are independently associated with surgical failure. Patients should be counseled that further surgery for incontinence may be necessary.

Therapeutic options and treatment of muscle invasive bladder cancer

Carcinoma of the bladder is the second most common genitourinary malignancy. Although several treatments exist, the gold standard therapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer (> or = stage T2) is cystectomy with urinary diversion. We review various surgical treatments for muscle invasive bladder cancer, focusing on the reported survival rates, complications, advantages and disadvantages of each therapeutic modality.

Intravesical valrubicin in the treatment of carcinoma in situ of the bladder

The propensity of patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the bladder to progress to invasive and metastatic disease is clearly established. Today, the standard therapy in treating patients with CIS of the bladder is intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). Nevertheless, patients who fail intravesical BCG have few viable options except to undergo a radical cystectomy. Valrubicin (N-trifluoroacetyladriamycin-14-valerate) is a new semisynthetic derivative of the anthracycline antibiotic doxorubicin that has been shown to benefit patients with BCG-refractory CIS of the bladder. Intravesical instillation of valrubicin is well-tolerated, safe and can be durable. Early non-randomised studies show promise and the current utilisation of this drug is limited to patients with BCG-refractory CIS of the bladder who are not good surgical candidates. Randomised studies of intravesical valrubicin for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer are ongoing.

Dual stent placement for the treatment of a persistent urine leak after partial nephrectomy

Persistent urine leak is a known complication after partial nephrectomy. In the present case, a partial nephrectomy was performed to remove a large, centrally located, renal mass in an elderly man with a solitary functioning kidney. A persistent urine leak refractory to single stent drainage was successfully treated after two stents were placed in the ipsilateral renal unit such that the upper and lower calices were drained by separate stents.

High-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia with adjacent atypia is associated with a higher incidence of cancer on subsequent needle biopsy than high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia alone

OBJECTIVES

High-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) is often considered a premalignant lesion of the prostate. Its incidence ranges from 0.7% to 20% in all prostate biopsies, and patients with HGPIN on initial biopsy are reportedly found to have a higher risk of cancer on subsequent biopsy. The purpose of our study was to determine the incidence of HGPIN in our patients who underwent prostate biopsy and to determine whether a further pathologic subclassification of HGPIN between HGPIN alone and HGPIN with adjacent atypical glands has any prognostic value in predicting the rate of prostate cancer on subsequent prostate biopsy.

METHODS

A total of 485 patients who underwent prostate biopsy between January 1998 and October 1999 were included in the study. Each set of slides was reviewed by a single urologic pathologist to determine the presence of HGPIN alone or HGPIN with adjacent atypical glands. If any HGPIN was identified, a repeat biopsy was performed, and the presence of cancer was recorded.

RESULTS

The overall incidence of HGPIN alone and HGPIN with adjacent atypical glands on initial biopsy was 33 (6.8%) of 485. Of these 33 patients, 21 (64%) had HGPIN alone and 12 (36%) had HGPIN with adjacent atypical glands. Three (14%) of 21 patients with HGPIN alone were found to have cancer on subsequent biopsy compared to 9 (75%) of 12 patients with HGPIN with adjacent atypia on initial biopsy. This difference is statistically significant (P <0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of HGPIN alone in our experience is 4.3% (21 of 485). Patients with HGPIN with adjacent atypical glands suspicious for cancer have a significantly higher incidence of cancer on subsequent biopsy than patients with HGPIN alone.

Retrograde ureteroscopic incision for the treatment of nonureteroenteric ureteral strictures

A variety of methods are available for the management of patients with ureteral strictures. Ureteroscopic, retrograde incision using the holmium laser was performed on an outpatient basis or with hospitalization for <24 hours in three patients with strictures of varying etiologies. With follow-up of 4 to 12 months, all patients have remained asymptomatic without radiographic evidence of recurrent strictures. Retrograde ureteroscopic incision is an effective, minimally invasive option for patients with benign ureteral strictures.

Surgical modifications of radical retropubic prostatectomy to decrease incidence of positive surgical margins

PURPOSE

We sought to determine whether recent surgical modifications in the technique of radical retropubic prostatectomy decrease the incidence of positive surgical margins.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We reviewed the records of 144 consecutive patients a mean of 60.8 years old who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy using a modified surgical technique. Mean prostate specific antigen was 8.6 ng./ml. and mean Gleason grade was 5.8. Surgical modifications included division of the dorsal venous complex of the penis 10 to 15 mm. distal to the prostatic apex; transection of the urethra 3 mm. beyond the prostatic apex; division of the anterior aspect of the urethra, leaving the investing periurethral musculature intact, and division of the posterior aspect of the urethra en bloc with the striated urethral sphincter; sharp dissection of the rectourethralis muscle and remaining attachments of the prostate to the rectum; wide excision of the neurovascular bundle posterolateral to the prostate when adjacent induration or tumor is present, and division of the bladder neck, leaving a 5 mm. cuff of bladder tissue with the prostate.

RESULTS

Of 144 consecutive patients 16 (11.1%) had positive surgical margins at a total of 20 sites, including 7 (35%) at the apex, 8 (40%) posterolateral, 3 (15%) anterior and 2 (10%) at the bladder neck. These results compare favorably with the positive surgical margin rates after radical prostatectomy previously reported in the literature.

CONCLUSIONS

These surgical modifications appear to have decreased the incidence of positive surgical margins after radical retropubic prostatectomy.