John M. Barry

Analysis of Risk Factors Associated with Prostate Cancer Extension to the Surgical Margin and Pelvic Node Metastasis at Radical Prostatectomy

We analyzed data from 107 consecutive patients with clinical stage B prostate cancer in an attempt to identify those at high risk for having involved margins or nodal metastasis. Each patient underwent transrectal ultrasound-guided sextant biopsies of the prostate. Patient age, surgical approach to prostatectomy, pre-biopsy prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, and number, location and maximum Gleason score of positive biopsies were statistically evaluated for all patients groups. Prostate volume and PSA density (PSAD) were calculated for all patients undergoing prostatectomy. Of the 101 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy 64 had negative margins, 37 had at least 1 positive margin and 11 of the 37 had more than 1 positive margin. Involved margins were most common at the apex (62%) and mid portion (59%) of the gland. Prostatectomy was not performed on 6 patients with nodal metastases evident on frozen section examination. Therefore, 43 patients are considered to be at high risk for having residual disease after surgery. The mean PSAD, PSA level and number of positive biopsies were significant (p < 0.05) predictors of tumor extension to the surgical margin. The mean number of positive biopsies, biopsy Gleason score and PSA level were significantly greater (p < 0.05) in patients with nodal metastases. Only 15% of the patients with a single positive biopsy had positive margins versus 47% of those with multiple positive biopsies (p < 0.05). Of the patients with tumor positive nodes on frozen section 67% had 5 or more positive biopsies, whereas only 9% of all others had that many positive biopsies (p < 0.05). The number of positive biopsy sites, PSAD and PSA level were significantly associated with tumor at the surgical margin or metastatic to the pelvic nodes.

The effect of conversion from cyclosporine to tacrolimus on gingival hyperplasia, hirsutism and cholesterol.

UNLABELLED The use of cyclosporine for immunosuppression in renal transplantation allograft recipients is associated with hypertrichosis, gingival hyperplasia, and hypercholesterolemia. Conversion of patients to tacrolimus may lead to an improvement in these effects with minimal risk of rejection or allograft dysfunction. METHODS Sixteen renal transplant recipients were prospectively converted from CsA to tacrolimus and followed for 1 year. Gingival hyperplasia index, total cholesterol, and blood pressure were recorded at the outset, 4-, 8-, and 12-month intervals. Glomerular filtration rate was checked before conversion and 1 year later. Photographs documenting hypertrichosis were taken before conversion and 1 year later. Adverse effects from tacrolimus were recorded at 4, 8, and 12 months. RESULTS Twelve patients with hypertrichosis noted rapid improvement. Mean gingival hyperplasia index decreased from 24 to 6; mean total cholesterol decreased from 237 to 195. Glomerular filtration rate was essentially unchanged (56 to 54). One episode of rejection occurred, three patients developed diarrhea, three noted headaches, and one had a tremor. CONCLUSION If carefully monitored, patients suffering adverse effects secondary to cyclosporine may be converted to tacrolimus with minimal risk of allograft dysfunction or rejection.

Renal transplantation across the ABO barrier using A2 kidneys

BACKGROUND The waiting list for cadaveric kidney transplantation has continued to grow, and with the relative scarcity of cadaver donors, the median waiting time for patients in the United States increased to 824 days in 1994. The median waiting times for patients with blood groups B or O were 1329 and 1007 days, respectively. Allocation of blood group A2 kidneys (20% of group A) to blood group O and B patients expands their potential donor pool and shortens their waiting time for a kidney transplantation. METHODS Between May 1991 and June 1998, we transplanted 15 A2 kidneys into 6 blood group O and 9 blood group B patients. Anti-A isoagglutinins were measured before transplantation, and patients with anti-A1 titers > or = 1:8 underwent plasmapheresis (PP). RESULTS One patient with high titer anti-A antibodies, who did not receive PP, lost her allograft because of hyperacute rejection. Allograft function was excellent in the remaining 14 patients, with a mean serum creatinine level of 1.7 (+/-0.89) mg/dl at 1 month and 1.3 (+/-0.34) mg/dl at 1 year. The actuarial 1-year graft survival rate was 93.3+/-6.4% and the patient survival rate was 100%. CONCLUSION We conclude that the allocation of blood group A2 kidneys for blood group O and B recipients is a practical way to expand the donor pool for these transplant candidates. PP may be important for reducing the levels of anti-A1 and anti-A2 antibodies and for reducing the risk of hyperacute rejection. Splenectomy seems to be unnecessary.

Reduction of cyst volume for symptomatic management of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

A total of 11 patients with refractory pain secondary to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease underwent ultrasound guided percutaneous aspiration of cyst fluid on the affected side. Surgical reduction of cyst volume was performed if pain recurred. Dramatic relief of pain was observed after both procedures. The probability of a patient being free of renal pain at 18 months was 33 +/- 17 per cent for aspiration and 81 +/- 12 per cent for an operation. Individual patients had relief of pain for more than 4 years. There was no deleterious effect on renal function after either aspiration or an operation. Blood pressure improved in the 5 patients with hypertension. There were no complications of percutaneous cyst aspiration. One patient required neurolysis of the drain site after cyst reduction.

Natural history of asymptomatic coronary arteriographic lesions in diabetic patients with end-stage renal disease

Arteriosclerotic heart disease is a major cause of death in insulin-requiring juvenile diabetic patients treated for end-stage renal disease. Eleven consecutive diabetic patients without clinical evidence of coronary artery disease underwent complete cardiac evaluations, including coronary arteriography, as part of transplant recipient work-ups. Seven were women and four were men; their mean age was 32 (21 to 50 years). Angiographically, every patient had multifocal atherosclerotic coronary disease. Four of seven patients tested had positive-stress electrocardiograms. In this group of patients followed for a mean of 19.8 months, eight died. Of these deaths, six were due to coronary heart disease and another due to a stroke. In two patients who became clinically symptomatic, serial angiograms revealed progressive disease of the coronary circulation; in one case, despite normal renal allograft function and serum lipid levels. The mode of end-stage renal disease treatment, serum lipids or blood pressure control could not be linked to mortality. It is concluded that arteriosclerotic heart disease is common in diabetic patients with end-stage renal disease even when angina is absent. The natural history in this high risk population is an important consideration in the selection of patients for end-stage renal disease treatment.

Nocturnal penile tumescence monitoring with stamps

A stamp technique was developed to detect complete nocturnal erections for the evaluation of impotence. The test correctly detected complete nocturnal erections in 22 potent men and absence of complete nocturnal erections in 11 impotent men (P value under 0.001). This is a simple, useful screening test for organic impotence.

Needle Tract Seeding after Percutaneous Renal Adenocarcinoma Aspiration

We report a rare case of tumor extension along a biopsy needle tract from renal cell carcinoma. Percutaneous renal mass aspiration has been reported to have a 3 to 4 per cent false positive rate and a 4 to 8 per cent false negative rate, and should be reserved for those renal masses in which a diagnosis is equivocal by noninvasive radiological techniques.

Prospective Risk Stratification in Renal Transplant Candidates for Cardiac Death

In previous studies to predict future cardiac death of patients undergoing evaluation for renal transplantation, noninvasive or invasive testing of all, or nearly all, patients has been used. In an attempt to decrease the cost of cardiac risk assessment, we prospectively used a two-tiered cardiac risk assessment algorithm on 189 consecutive patients referred for renal transplant evaluation. First, patients were stratified by clinical characteristics of age > or = 50 years, history of angina, insulin-dependent diabetes, congestive heart failure, or abnormal electrocardiogram (excluding left ventricular hypertrophy). Patients having none of these risk factors (n = 94) were considered at low risk for cardiac events and underwent no further cardiac evaluation. Patients with one or more of the cardiac risk factors (n = 95) were considered to be in a high-risk group and were required to undergo further evaluation with thallium myocardial scintigraphy. Follow-up of patients was for 46 +/- 16 months. Cardiac mortality was significantly higher in the clinical high-risk group compared with the clinical low-risk group (17% v 1%, respectively; P < 0.001). Further cardiac risk stratification was evident by thallium myocardial scintigraphy. Patients with reversible thallium defects had significantly higher cardiac mortality rates than patients with no thallium defects (23% v 5%, respectively; P < 0.05). Fixed thallium defects also had predictive value for cardiac mortality (29%,; P < 0.05), but deaths in this fixed defect group tended to occur later in the follow-up period. The initial clinical stratification obviated the need for further noninvasive or invasive testing in nearly half of the renal transplant candidates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The morbidity of radical prostatectomy for multifocal stage I prostatic adenocarcinoma.

During a 25-year period 33 patients with stage I multifocal prostatic adenocarcinoma underwent radical prostatectomy. Carcinoma was present in 81 per cent of the specimens. The operative mortality was 3 per cent. Pelvic recurrence, rectal injury and urethrovesical stricture each occurred in 9 per cent of the cases. Fifteen per cent of the patients were totally incontinent and 42 per cent had stress incontinence. One patient required combined retropubic and perineal approaches to remove the specimen. The safest interval between the first and the radical procedure was 6 weeks or more. The 5 and 10-year relative survival rates were 100 per cent. The best candidate for a radical prostatectomy after transurethral prostatic resection or suprapubic enucleation prostatectomy is one with a thick surgical capsule in whom the first procedure procedes the radical procedure by at least 6 weeks.

Diagnosis and management of ureteroiliac artery fistula: value of provocative arteriography followed by common iliac artery embolization and extraanatomic arterial bypass grafting.

PURPOSE We describe an effective multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and management of ureteroarterial fistulas that reduces morbidity and mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five ureteroarterial fistulas in 4 patients were studied with standard and provocative arteriography (arteriography combined with ureteral manipulation). After establishing the diagnosis, each lesion was treated with percutaneous embolic occlusion of the common iliac artery followed by extraanatomic arterial bypass grafting. All patients had chronic ureteral stenting, prior pelvic irradiation, prior pelvic surgery and intrapelvic malignancy, and all fistulas presented with urinary tract hemorrhage. RESULTS Standard arteriography was nondiagnostic but provocative arteriography demonstrated the fistula in each case. Successful embolization of the common iliac artery followed by extraanatomic arterial bypass grafting precluded the need for laparotomy and preserved ipsilateral renal function. CONCLUSIONS Provocative arteriography followed by arteriographic common iliac artery embolization and extraanatomic bypass grafting was successful for the diagnosis and treatment of ureteroarterial fistulas. There was no mortality, limb loss or renal loss.