Perineal urethrostomy: surgical and functional evaluation of two techniques

Introduction. PU is an option to manage complex and/or recurrent urethral strictures and is necessary after urethrectomy and/or penectomy. PU is generally assumed to be the last option before abandoning the urethral outlet. Methods. Between 2001 and 2013, 51 patients underwent PU. Mean age (+/- standard deviation) was 60 +/- 15 years. Only 13 patients (25.5%) did not undergo previous urethral interventions. PU was performed according to the Johanson (n = 35) or Blandy (n = 16) technique and these 2 groups were compared for surgical failure, maximum urinary flow (Q(max)), urinary symptoms, and quality of life (according to the International Prostate Symptom Score). Results. Both groups were similar for patient's and stricture characteristics. Only follow-up duration was significantly longer after Johanson PU (47.9 months versus 11.1 months; P = 0.003). For the entire cohort, 11 patients (21.6%) were considered a failure (9 or 25.7% for Johanson group and 2 or 12.5% for Blandy group; P = 0.248). There was a significant improvement of Q(max) in both groups. Quality of life after PU was comparable in both groups. Conclusions. PU is associated with a 21.6% recurrence rate and the patient should be informed about this risk

Diagnostic accuracy of urinary prostate protein glycosylation profiling in prostatitis diagnosis

Introduction: Although prostatitis is a common male urinary tract infection, clinical diagnosis of prostatitis is difficult. The developmental mechanism of prostatitis is not yet unraveled which led to the elaboration of various biomarkers. As changes in asparagine-linked-(N-)-glycosylation were observed between healthy volunteers (HV), patients with benign prostate hyperplasia and prostate cancer patients, a difference could exist in biochemical parameters and urinary N-glycosylation between HV and prostatitis patients. We therefore investigated if prostatic protein glycosylation could improve the diagnosis of prostatitis. Materials and methods: Differences in serum and urine biochemical markers and in total urine N-glycosylation profile of prostatic proteins were determined between HV (N = 66) and prostatitis patients (N = 36). Additionally, diagnostic accuracy of significant biochemical markers and changes in N-glycosylation was assessed. Results: Urinary white blood cell (WBC) count enabled discrimination of HV from prostatitis patients (P < 0.001). Urinary bacteria count allowed for discriminating prostatitis patients from HV (P < 0.001). Total amount of biantennary structures (urinary 2A/MA marker) was significantly lower in prostatitis patients compared to HV (P < 0.001). Combining the urinary 2A/MA marker and urinary WBC count resulted in an AUC of 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) = (0.70-0.89) which was significantly better than urinary WBC count (AUC = 0.70, 95% CI = [0.59-0.82], P = 0.042) as isolated test. Conclusions: We have demonstrated the diagnostic value of urinary N-glycosylation profiling, which shows great potential as biomarker for prostatitis. Further research is required to unravel the developmental course of prostatic inflammation

Total intracorporeal robot kidney autotransplantation : case report and description of surgical technique

Introduction and Objectives: Kidney autotransplantation can be performed in patients with complex renal or ureteral pathology not suitable for in situ reconstruction, such as renal vasculature anomalies, patients with proximal or long complex ureteral strictures, or complex oncological cases. Robot-assisted surgery allows for a high-quality vascular and ureteral anastomosis and faster patient recovery. Robot-assisted kidney autotransplantation (RAKAT) is performed in two phases: nephrectomy and pelvic transplantation. In-between, extraction of the kidney allows for vascular reconstruction or kidney modification on the bench and safe cold ischemia can be established. If no bench reconstruction is needed, total intracorporeal RAKAT (tiRAKAT) is feasible. One case report in Europe has been described; however, to our knowledge no surgical video is available. Methods: A 58 year-old woman suffered from right mid- and distal ureteral stenosis following pelvic radiotherapy 10 years prior for cervical cancer. A JJ stent was placed, but she suffered from recurrent urinary tract infections, and ultimately a nephrostomy was placed. Renogram demonstrated 43% relative right kidney function. As her bladder volume was low following radiotherapy, no Boari flap was possible and the patient refused life-long nephrostomy or nephrectomy. Therefore, tiRAKAT was performed using the DaVinci Xi system. Results: We describe our surgical technique including a video. Surgical time (skin-to-skin) was 5 h and 45 min. Warm ischemia time was 4 min, cold ischemia 55 min, and rewarming ischemia 15 min. The abdominal catheter and bladder catheter were removed on the first and second postoperative day, respectively. The JJ stent was removed after 4 weeks. The patient suffered from pulmonary embolism on the second postoperative day, for which therapeutic low molecular weight heparin was started. No further complications occurred during the first 90 postoperative days. After 7 months, overall kidney function remained stable, right kidney function dropped non-significantly from 27 to 25.2 mL/min (-6.7%) on renal scintigraphy. Conclusion: We demonstrated feasibility and, for the first time, a surgical video of tiRAKAT highlighting patient positioning, trocar placement, and intracorporeal cold ischemia technique

The Role of Androgen Receptor Expression in the Curative Treatment of Prostate Cancer with Radiotherapy: A Pilot Study

The androgen receptor (AR) and its signaling pathway play an important role in the development and progression of prostate cancer (PCa). In the setting of primary treatment of PCa with radiotherapy (RT), where the AR can be expected to be of more importance, studies evaluating the AR expression are lacking. The goal of this research is to evaluate AR protein expression in hormone-naive PCa patients treated by RT and investigate its possible prognostic role. Primary biopsy samples of 18 patients treated with primary RT were analyzed including the corresponding clinical information. AR protein expression of the tumor epithelium (with highest Gleason pattern) and the surrounding stroma was quantified using the Quick score for steroid receptors. The differential expression between epithelium and stroma, respectively, between tumor and normal tissue (ΔTumor − ΔBenign &gt;2 versus ≤2), was predictive for clinical progression-free survival in the biopsy samples (P = 0.014). Preliminary results of this research show already a promising role of differential AR expression in predicting clinical relapse after PCa treatment with primary EBRT. Further research is needed to validate these findings. Hopefully this can lead to a better understanding of PCa evolution and eventually lead to better therapy strategies

A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans: Social Ecology, Environmental Determinants, and Health Systems

In this paper, the Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), with the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps, focuses on the environmental, social, behavioural, and political determinants of human helminth infections and outlines a research and development agenda for the socioeconomic and health systems research required for the development of sustainable control programmes. Using Stockols' social-ecological approach, we describe the role of various social (poverty, policy, stigma, culture, and migration) and environmental determinants (the home environment, water resources development, and climate change) in the perpetuation of helminthic diseases, as well as their impact as contextual factors on health promotion interventions through both the regular and community-based health systems. We examine these interactions in regard to community participation, intersectoral collaboration, gender, and possibilities for upscaling helminthic disease control and elimination programmes within the context of integrated and interdisciplinary approaches. The research agenda summarises major gaps that need to be addressed

Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs are present in ~4% of uninfected individuals over 70 years old and account for ~20% of COVID-19 deaths

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.Circulating autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing high concentrations (10 ng/ml; in plasma diluted 1:10) of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are found in about 10% of patients with critical COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pneumonia but not in individuals with asymptomatic infections. We detect auto-Abs neutralizing 100-fold lower, more physiological, concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega (100 pg/ml; in 1:10 dilutions of plasma) in 13.6% of 3595 patients with critical COVID-19, including 21% of 374 patients >80 years, and 6.5% of 522 patients with severe COVID-19. These antibodies are also detected in 18% of the 1124 deceased patients (aged 20 days to 99 years; mean: 70 years). Moreover, another 1.3% of patients with critical COVID-19 and 0.9% of the deceased patients have auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-beta. We also show, in a sample of 34,159 uninfected individuals from the general population, that auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are present in 0.18% of individuals between 18 and 69 years, 1.1% between 70 and 79 years, and 3.4% >80 years. Moreover, the proportion of individuals carrying auto-Abs neutralizing lower concentrations is greater in a subsample of 10,778 uninfected individuals: 1% of individuals 80 years. By contrast, auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-beta do not become more frequent with age. Auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs predate SARS-CoV-2 infection and sharply increase in prevalence after the age of 70 years. They account for about 20% of both critical COVID-19 cases in the over 80s and total fatal COVID-19 cases.Peer reviewe