A prospective study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of technetium-99m-sestamibi and technetium-99m-pertechnetate subtraction scanning and US for imaging parathyroid glands in primary hyperparathyroidism. Sixty-three patients were surgically treated for primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT). Preoperative scintigraphy and US were performed in all cases. Bilateral neck exploration was carried out on each patient. Results of radionuclide studies and US were compared with surgical and histological findings. In 57 patients with primary HPT the radionuclide scanning gave true-positive results. Four false-negative and two false-positive scintigrams were obtained. The sensitivity and the positive predictive value (PPV) of scintigraphy were 93 and 97%, respectively. Forty-one cases were correctly localized by the US. Seventeen US results were false negative and five were false positive. The sensitivity and the PPV for US were 71 and 89%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the sensitivity of the scintigraphy compared with the US ( p=0.001). Sensitivities of radionuclide scans and US were higher for adenomas (100 and 83%) than for hyperplastic glands (75 and 40%). The sensitivity of technetium-99m-sestamibi and technetium-99m-pertechnetate subtraction scintigraphy was significantly higher compared with US. This sensitive method could help surgeons in performing a rapid and directed parathyroidectomy.

Introduction: The authors of this paper assessed the surgical management and outcome of renal cancers when tumor thrombus extended into the inferior vena cava (IVC). Methods: From 2000 to 2015, 46 radical nephrectomies were performed on patients with tumor thrombus in the IVC. The mean age of the patients was 60 ± 11 years. Radical nephrectomy and thrombectomies were performed in a single session. There were 18 level-IV, 23 level-III, and 5 level-II tumor thrombi. The operations were performed using cardiopulmonary bypass in 14 patients, while deep hypothermic cardiac arrest was carried out in 4 cases. Results: The mean size of the tumors was 9.4 ± 3.5 cm. Histology showed the tumor stages to be pT3b in 21cases, pT3c in 22, and pT4 in 3 patients. The mean follow-up period of the patients was 3.6 ± 3.0 years. During the follow-up period, local recurrence was observed in 7 patients, while distant metastases occurred in 8 cases. The median time to progression was 37 ± 27 months. The 5-year overall survival was 43.7%. Conclusions: Radical nephrectomy and thrombectomy provided reasonable long-term survival for patients with renal cancer and IVC thrombus. However, tumor progression was detected in 41.6%. The presence of tumor thrombus had a negative effect on tumor progression and survival.

Seminal vesicle cysts can cause sub- or infertility. Minimally invasive techniques have the advantage of preserving the vas deferens by the treatment of symptomatic cases. After reviewing the published articles, only a few of them presented data on fertility before and after surgery. The authors now report the successful treatment of two patients with seminal vesicle cysts, in which laparoscopic cyst removal resolved the symptoms, preserving fertility and erectile function. Due to the rarity of seminal vesicle cysts, preoperative examinations and treatment modalities should focus not only on the relief of symptoms but also on the preservation of fertility and erectile function.

A 31-year-old female was in the 13th week of pregnancy when an abdominal ultrasound examination revealed a large retroperitoneal tumour. Magnetic resonance imaging was carried out and the imaging described a 10-cm mass in diameter extending from the right kidney. Given that the patient was in her first trimester and that there was a suspicion of malignancy, further surgical exploration of the tumour was warranted. During the operation, the tumour was removed, but nephrectomy was not necessary. Histologic analysis of the resected tumour showed a mucinous cystic adenoma, and no signs of malignancy were present. Following the surgery, the pregnancy was otherwise uneventful and further complications did not occur. This case illustrates that surgery is recommended in patients with a retroperitoneal tumour early during a pregnancy, when a malignancy cannot be excluded.

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