Case – Renal artery pseudoaneurysm: A life-threatening occurrence following thulium laser lithotripsy

Introduction Renal artery pseudoaneurysm post-laser lithotripsy is a rare and potentially life-threatening complication. Traditionally, the most common modalities used for treatment of urinary tract stones were holmium laser lithotripsy and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. However, thulium laser has recently gained momentum in the treatment of urinary tract stones with increasing use and availability in healthcare systems. We report a case of renal artery pseudoaneurysm post-thulium laser lithotripsy who presented in hemorrhagic shock after ureteral stent removal and was subsequently stabilized by endovascular embolization.

Support Vector Machine-Based Analysis of Holmium Laser Lithotripsy in Treatment of Urinary Calculus from Ultrasound Images

This study was to investigate the application value of ultrasound images optimized by support vector machine (SVM) algorithm in the efficacy analysis of holmium laser lithotripsy in the treatment of urinary calculi. 92 patients for treatment of UC were selected as research subjects, with 46 cases in each group. The control group received pneumatic lithotripsy for diagnosis and treatment. The observation group received holmium laser lithotripsy for calculus treatment. The perimeter and area of the defect and the length and width of the external distance of the most effective area of the defect were used as classification features, and a classifier based on SVM was constructed and applied to it. After treatment, the success rate, operation duration, stone clearance time, and hospital stay of the two groups were comprehensively evaluated. The results showed that the success rate of the observation group adopting holmium laser lithotripsy was 100%. The duration of operation in the observation group was (29.7 ± 7.65) min, and the time to clear calculus was (6.99 ± 5.29) days. The length of hospital stay was (3.67 ± 2.9) days. The probability of complications in the observation group was 3.11%. The observation group was superior to the control group in all surgical indicators (95%, 40.7 ± 8.36 minutes, 14.1 ± 7.21 days, and 5.12 ± 3.72 days), with considerable differences between groups ( P < 0.05 ). The strong support structure similarity information improved the detection and diagnostic analysis ability of ultrasonic images. In conclusion, after ultrasound image evaluation based on SVM algorithm, the adoption of holmium laser lithotripsy can effectively improve the success rate of patients with urinary system disease, which was worthy of clinical adoption and promotion.

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis infected with the Providencia stuartii: a case report and literature review

Background Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP) is a rare and severe chronic inflammatory disease of the renal parenchyma, which is most commonly associated with super-infections by bacteria such as E. coli, Proteus mirabilis, and occasionally Pseudomonas species. Case presentation Herein, we present a rare case of a patient with XGP infected with Providencia stuartii. Initially, the patient refused nephrectomy and underwent holmium laser lithotripsy and right ureteral stenting, followed by meropenem treatment of 7 days. Relapse occurred in the third month after discharge from the hospital, due to which she underwent a radical nephrectomy. Discussion The diagnosis of XGP is confirmed by histopathology. The standard treatment for XGP is antibiotic therapy and radical nephrectomy, but partial nephrectomy may be appropriate in select cases.

Percutaneous Transhepatic Holmium Laser Lithotripsy for Giant Biliary Stones

This case report describes a young female patient with a history of surgery to treat choledochal cyst since childhood who was admitted to our hospital with cholangitis. An imaging examination revealed giant stones that almost completely filled the intrahepatic biliary tract. The patient underwent percutaneous transhepatic lithotripsy using a holmium laser. After the lithotripsy, cholangiography showed no residual stones. The patient displayed clinical improvement and was discharged after 14 days in the hospital. This case serves as a reminder of gallstone complications that can occur subsequent to choledochal cyst surgery with biliary-enteric anastomosis and emphasizes many outstanding advantages of percutaneous transhepatic lithotripsy compared with classical surgery.

Case Report: Mini-endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery in an en-bloc kidney transplant

Background Overall incidence of stones in kidney transplant recipients is 1%. En-bloc kidney transplant is a rare anatomical condition in which kidney stones treatment can be extremely difficult to treat. As far as we know, no cases of staghorn calculi in en-bloc kidney transplant have been published so far. Case presentation A 27-year-old woman presented to the Emergency Department because of asthenia, adynamia and weight loss associated with lower urinary tract symptoms and subfebrile temperature. Ten years before, she had undergone an en-bloc kidney transplant because of end-stage renal disease secondary to perinatal asphyxia syndrome. One kidney was implanted capo-volta in the right iliac fossa and the other one in the right flank. NCCT scan showed incomplete staghorn calculi in the iliac fossa transplanted kidney. Besides, severe dilation of the native and the right flank transplanted kidney, due to two ureteral stones of 6 and 7 mm impacted in the uretero-ureteral anastomosis, was found. After hospital admission and under ceftriaxone prophylaxis, an attempt to perform primary RIRS following our COVID protocol was carried out. Nevertheless, we ended up placing a JJ stent because once the guidewire passed through the ureteral stones, purulent material came out from the ureteral orifice. She stayed 9 days in-hospital for management of postobstructive polyuria and was discharged with oral antibiotics. Three weeks afterward, we removed the stent and performed flexible ureteroscopy and holmium laser lithotripsy of the ureteral stones. In the same procedure, we performed Mini-ECIRS (21 French) previous ultrasound-guided upper pole puncture. Postoperative NCCT scan showed neither residual fragments nor operative complications. Conclusion This is the first clinical case reporting Mini-ECIRS in a patient with an en-bloc kidney transplant. This endourological approach seems to be a feasible, safe and effective approach to treat stones in this anatomically challenging condition.

Stone free rate and clinical complications in patients submitted to retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS): Our experience in 571 consecutive cases

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to report the stone free rate (SFR) and clinical complications in patients submitted to retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS). Materials and methods: A total of 571 procedures of upper urinary stones treated using flexible ureteroscopy and holmium laser lithotripsy from January 2014 to February 2020 have been analyzed. Overall SFR was evaluated after 3 months following the procedure by means of a non-contrast computed tomography. Success was considered as stone-free status or ≤ 0.4 cm fragments. Results: The overall SFR was 92.3% in group 1 (stone size: < 1 cm), 88.3% in group 2 (stone size: > 1 ≤ 2 cm), 56.7% in group 3 (stone size: 2-3 cm) and 69.6% in group 4 (multiple stones). Post-operative complications, according to the Clavien- Dindo (CD) classification system, were recorded in 32 (5.6%) procedures. The major complications recorded were: one case of subcapsular hematoma (SRH) associated with pulmonary embolism two days after the procedure (CD Grade IIIa) treated conservatively and one case of hemorrhagic shock 2 hour with multiple renal bleedings requiring urgent nephrectomy (CD Grade IVA). Conclusions: The RIRS is an effective and safe procedure with a high SFR significantly correlated with the stone size; at the same time, RIRS could be characterized by severe clinical complications that require rapid diagnosis and prompt treatment.

Comparative Study between Pneumatic and Holmium Laser Lithotripsy in Treatment of Ureteric Stones

Objective The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy & safety of holmium laser and pneumatic lithotripsy used in the ureteroscopic treatment of ureteral stones. Materials and Methods A prospective randomized clinical study was done using the data of patients to whom ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URL) was applied for ureter stones in our clinic. Then these patients were separated into 2 groups according to the type of lithotriptor used in stone fragmentation as laser lithotripsy (Group 1) and pneumatic lithotripsy (Group 2). Results Statistically, the two groups were similar in respect of the number of stones, stone burden and the number of double J stents applied intra-operatively. Mean operating time was calculated as 62.9 (±7.69) minutes in Group 1 and 50.98 (±6.63) minutes in Group 2. The mean operating time was found to be higher in group 1 than group 2 (P = 0.000). On postoperative day 1 after the URL, the SFR of Group 1 79.0% found to be significantly high compared to the SFR of Group 2 (64.0%) (P = 0.019), while at postoperative month 1, the SFR of both groups (Group 1 84%, Group 2 80%) was found to be similar (P = 0.462). Conclusions Compared to the pneumatic lithotripter, the Ho: YAG laser seems to have a statistically significant higher SFR in the early postoperative period (1 day), even though there are statistically insignificant success rate (after 1 month) and complications (hematuria, mucosa injury, stone migration, stricture and perforation avulsion).

Providing Several Skills to Treat Complex Infectious Stones of Solitary Kidney in a Patient Failed to Undergo Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Case Report

Conservative treatment is closely associated with renal deterioration for patients with renal staghorn stones. It is well-recognized that percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is recommended as the first-line treatment of renal stones larger than 2 cm due to its higher stone clearance and cost-effectiveness when compared with other treatment alternatives, such as shockwave lithotripsy and flexible ureteroscopy (FURS). Besides, our findings indicated that miniaturized PCNL could be served as an alternative to PCNL with a higher stone-free rate and a lower hemorrhage risk. Despite the higher cost-effectiveness of PCNL, the management of staghorn stones are still controversial in some special situations, such as a solitary kidney. Herein, we present a case with complex infectious stones of a right-sided solitary kidney, complaining of persistent pain in the right waist. The rarity of this case is that it is difficult to encounter these cotton-like staghorn stones which are clinically resistant to holmium laser lithotripsy, and the particularity is that the patient with solitary kidney failed to undergo PCNL. We found that the combination of intermittently high-frequency oscillation and flexible ureteroscopy forceps might contribute to treat the complex infectious stones in a patient with solitary kidney. Our surgical experience might be beneficial to such patients undergoing flexible ureteroscopy in clinical practice.