Resumo em Inglês:

PURPOSE: Actinomycosis is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by the gram-positive anaerobic bacteria, Actinomyces israelli. This paper reviews the etiology and clinical presentation associated with Actinomycosis that often presents as a pelvic mass that mimics a pelvic malignancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A combination of patients treated by the authors in the recent past and a literature review of patients with pelvic Actinomycosis were assessed for diographic, clinical and predisposing co-factors. An analysis is made of age distribution, gender, diagnostic methods and treatment concepts. RESULTS: Thirty-three patients were included in the study that included 2 current patients and 31 obtained from literature review. There were 27 fiales (age range 16 - 69 years, mean 38 years) and 6 males (16 - 55 years, mean 36 years). Presenting signs and symptoms were lower abdominal mass in 28 (85%); lower abdominal pain in 21 (63%); vaginal discharge or hiaturia in 7 (22%). Two patients developed fistulae (entero-vesico 1; vesico-cutaneous 1). Nineteen (70%) of the 27 fiale patients had intra-uterine contraceptive devices (IUD). Four patients (12.5%) (3 males and 1 fiale) had urachus or urachal rinants. Cystoscopy in 12 patients noted an extrinsic mass effect, bullous edia and in one patient vegetative proliferation proven to be a chronic inflammatory change. Exploratory laparotomy was performed in 32 of the 33 patients who had excision of mass and involved organs. Diagnosis was established by histologic examination of rioved tissue. Penicillin (6 weeks) therapy was utilized to control infections. CONCLUSION: Pelvic actinomycosis mimics pelvic malignancy and may be associated with the long-term use of intra-uterine contraceptive devices, and persistent urachal rinants. Rioval of infected mass and antibiotic therapy will eradicate the inflammatory process.

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Radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) is an operation historically associated with the potential for significant blood loss. Patients who refuse a blood transfusion, such as Jehovahs witnesses, may be only offered radiation therapy as potentially curative treatment for prostate cancer because of the potential for a transfusion. Intraoperative cell salvage (IOCS) is an effective blood managient strategy for patients who are not willing to accept predonated autologous or allergenic blood. We present our managient for Jehovah's Witness patients with clinically localized prostate cancer, iphasizing our blood managient approach. This is the first such report.

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OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of intrarectal lidocaine hydrochloride gel in reducing pain in patients undergoing transrectal prostate biopsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During the period from June to Noviber 2002, 72 patients undergoing transrectal prostate biopsy at an outpatient service were prospectively randomized. Patients were divided into 2 groups. In group 1, 20 mL of 2% lidocaine gel were administered by intrarectal route 15 minutes before biopsy. In group 2 (placebo), 20 mL of ultrasound gel were administered under the same conditions. At the end of the procedure, patients were asked to classify the discomfort degree observed during the procedure through a verbal pain scale. Statistical analysis was performed through qui-square test. RESULTS: The majority of patients in both groups presented slight pain on the examination, and 26 patients (76.4%) from group 1, and 26 (68.3%) patients from group 2 reported slight pain or no pain at all (p > 0.05). Moderate or intense pain was felt by 23.4% of patients in group 1 and 31.5% of patients in group 2 (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that lidocaine probably exerts a minimal effect on patients’ tolerance to pain on transrectal prostate biopsy.

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PURPOSE: to determine the role of RPLND for residual masses following chiotherapy in patients with non-siinomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT) stage T1N2 and T1N3 (IIB and IIC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have preformed retrospective analysis of 11 patients who underwent RPLND for residual masses following chiotherapy in an oncologic reference center between January 1997 and Deciber 2002. All patients harbored either pure nonsiinomatous or mixed tumors in the testis tissue and had undergone 4 cycles of primary chiotherapy with bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin. The residual masses were assessed by abdominal computed tomography preoperatively. RESULTS: There were perioperative complications in 3 cases owing to vascular iatrogenic lesion. One of who died in the early postoperative period due to extensive iliac thrombosis. The other 2 patients had an inferior vena cava injury owing to the difficulty in rioving the attached lymph nodes. The injuries were repaired by continuous suture with Prolene 5-0. All patients had tumors in the final pathological report and were referred to other 2 cycles of chiotherapy with the same drugs. Seven patients (63.3%) had complete response and riained free of the disease in a mean follow up of 38.3 months (ranging from 12 to 72). The riaining 3 patients had disease progression, 2 of which died 6 and 12 months after surgery, respectively, and one patient missed the follow-up after salvage chiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for residual masses after chiotherapy is a high-morbidity procedure, even by experienced surgeons, although it riains an efficient modality of treatment in advanced germ cell carcinoma. The high frequency of tumor found in the RPLFN following chiotherapy might have been caused by the small number of patients in this study.

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OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to report the preliminary experience with videolaparoscopic retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy in the treatment of patients with non-siinomatous testicular tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven surgeries were performed in order to access retroperitoneal lymph nodes in patients with non-siinomatous testicular cancer. We performed the videolaparoscopic retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy (LRL) technique in 5 patients with stage I disease and laparoscopic resection of residual mass (LRRM), following chiotherapy (ChT), in 2 patients with stage II disease. Initial approach was obtained through 4 trocars, using an incision in supra-umbilical midline when manual assistance was required. Surgical time was analyzed, as well as blood loss, need for analgesic drugs postoperatively, hospital stay, complications, need for blood transfusion, histopathological data and tumor control in a mean follow-up of 18 months. RESULTS: Mean surgical time was 200 to 260 minutes in LRL and LRRM groups respectively, mean blood loss was 300 mL for the LRL group and 400 mL for the LRRM group, without need for transfusions. There was a lesion in the vena cava in the LRL group, which was managed with manual assistance and one conversion in the LRRM group, due to a 10-cm tumor mass that was adhered to the aorta. Mean hospital stay was 3 days, excluding the converted case, and the use of analgesic drugs was needed until the second postoperative day. Of the stage I patients, 2 had active disease in retroperitoneum, and underwent adjuvant ChT. The 2 residual masses were teratomas. There was no recurrence during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Videolaparoscopic retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy is a procedure with high technical complexity and a higher potential for conversion when performed following chiotherapy.

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Complications associated with the ureteral stump after nephrectomies rarely occur, especially after donor nephrectomies. The potential for the slippage of clips is a well-known event associated with vascular ligations. We report on the first case of clip slippage from the ureter and describe diagnosis and managient of the most extrie of morbid presentations.

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We report an 81-year-old male who developed severe interstitial pneumonitis on maintenance intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for in-situ carcinoma of the bladder. The patient was treated with steroids and anti-tuberculin therapy with complete response. While there is no established standard of care for the treatment of interstitial pneumonitis, recent reports describe success with combination of corticosteroids and anti-tuberculin medications. We elected to follow this precedent and treated our patient with corticosteroids and anti-tuberculin therapy with good outcome.

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Metastatic vesical tumors are rare, and constitute approximately 1% of all neoplasias affecting this organ. The authors report the case of a 63-year old woman with vesical metastasis of gastric adenocarcinoma. Patient presented signs of cachexia and complained of left lumbar pain and dysuria unresponsive to antibiotic therapy for approximately 5 months. She reported a previous partial gastrectomy due to ulcerative undifferentiated gastric adenocarcinoma 1 year and 9 months before. Cystoscopy revealed an extensive vegetative lesion in bladder, occupying its entire mucosal surface. The biopsy revealed metastatic signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma.

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The solitary fibrous tumor is a rare mesenchymal tumor, occurring preferentially in pleura, which has recently been described in extrathoracic sites. There are 6 reports on primary solitary fibrous tumor of bladder. They affect preferably men with mean age around 57 years, are usually asymptomatic and, despite eventually presenting morphologic features of malignancy, tumor resection is considered curative. We report the seventh case of solitary fibrous tumor in bladder wall, discussing differential diagnoses, and call the attention to this rarely occurring entity, which has benign behavior and should be managed conservatively.

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Primary lymphoma of the prostate is rare. It represents 0.09% of prostate neoplasias. The authors report the case of a 42-year old patient presenting urinary obstruction and renal failure due to primary lymphoma of the prostate. We discuss the clinical manifestations of this disease, iphasizing that systiic chiotherapy represents the initial and preferential therapeutic method

Resumo em Inglês:

Epididymitis is a frequent inflammatory process. It is related to sexually transmitted diseases, urinary tract infections by E. coli, or scrotal trauma. We describe the case of a Caucasian 32-year old man, who presented scrotal pain for 3 months, with difficult managient with medication. Testis was normal; however, the left epididymis was extriely painful and hardened. Following the unsuccessful use of analgesic and anti-inflammatory medication, a left epididymectomy was performed, with resolution of the pain. The pathological examination showed the presence of chronic inflammatory process associated with eggs of the parasite Schistosoma mansoni in the resected epididymis. Patient evolved without pain in the post-operative period and was medicated with a single dose of oxamniquine after etiologic confirmation.

Resumo em Inglês:

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has become the standard of care at increasing numbers of renal transplant programs worldwide. The majority of laparoscopic living donor kidneys are procured from the left side because of the longer renal vein and improved transplantation. The aim of this article is to report a technique to maximize the right renal vein length by performing a hand-assisted cavotomy.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the morphology of epididymis and tunica vaginalis as well as their anatomical anomalies in patients with testicular torsion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 25 patients (50 testes) aged between 12 and 23 years (mean 15.6). Torsion length ranged from 2 hours to 2 days (mean 8 hours). Epididymal anatomy was classified in 6 groups: Type I - epididymis united to the testis by its head and tail; Type II - epididymis totally united to the testis; Type III - disjunction of epididymal tail; Type IV - disjunction of epididymal head; Type V - total disjunction between testis and epididymis, and Type VI - epididymal atresia. The type of torsion was classified in 3 groups: Group A - intravaginal torsion; Group B - extravaginal torsion and Group C - torsion due to long mesorchium. RESULTS: Of the 50 analyzed testes, 40 (80%) presented bell clapper deformity (with 21 presenting intravaginal torsion); 8 testes (16%) had long mesorchium (4 with torsion), and only 2 (4%) presented normal anatomy in the tunica vaginalis. The most frequently found anatomical relationship between testis and epididymis was Type I - 38 cases (76%); Type II relationship was found in 6 cases (12%) and Type III relationship was found in 6 cases (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Intravaginal torsion is the most frequent type, and torsion due to long mesorchium is associated with cryptorchism. The most frequently found anatomical relation between testis and epididymis in the study group was Type I.