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Objectives To establish the role of BCG instillations in the incidence and mortality of COVID-19. Patients and methods NMIBC patients in instillations with BCG (induction or maintenance) during 2019/2020 were included, establishing a COVID-19 group (with a diagnosis according to the national registry) and a control group (NO-COVID). The cumulative incidence (cases/total patients) and the case fatality rate (deaths/cases) were established, and compared with the national statistics for the same age group. T-test was used for continuous variables and Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Results 175 patients were included. Eleven patients presented CIS (11/175, 6.3%), 84/175 (48.0%) Ta and 68/175 (38.9%) T1. Average number of instillations = 13.25 ± 7.4. One hundred sixty-seven patients (95.4%) had complete induction. Forty-three patients (cumulative incidence 24.6%) were diagnosed with COVID-19. There is no difference between COVID-19 and NO-COVID group in age, gender or proportion of maintenance completed. COVID-19 group fatality rate = 1/43 (2.3%). Accumulated Chilean incidence 70–79 years = 6.3%. Chilean fatality rate 70–79 years = 14%. Conclusions According to our results, patients with NMIBC submitted to instillations with BCG have a lower case-fatality rate than the national registry of patients between 70 and 79 years (2.3% vs. 14%, respectively). Intravesical BCG could decrease the mortality due to COVID-19, so instillation schemes should not be suspended in a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely take years to control globally, and constant epidemic surveillance will be required to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2, especially considering the emergence of new variants that could hamper the effect of vaccination efforts. We developed a simple and robust - Phone Screen Testing (PoST) - method to detect positive SARS-CoV-2 individuals by RT-PCR testing of smartphone screen swab samples. We show that 81.3-100% of individuals with high-viral load SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal positive samples also test positive for PoST, suggesting this method is effective in identifying COVID-19 contagious individuals. Furthermore, we successfully identified polymorphisms associated with SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants, in SARS-CoV-2 positive PoST samples. Overall, we report that PoST is a new non-invasive, cost-effective, and easy to implement smartphone-based smart alternative for SARS-CoV-2 testing, which could help to contain COVID-19 outbreaks and identification of variants of concern in the years to come.

Introduction The aim of this article was to quantify the effect of the use of holmium laser during intracorporeal lithotripsy in an ex vivo model. Material and methods A simulated model for laser nephro-lithotripsy was designed. Two ex vivo porcine kidneys were used. Electronic thermometer electrodes were inserted on the upper calyx. Intracorporeal lithotripsy was simulated with a holmium laser. Intrarenal temperature was recorded both at the beginning and after one minute of laser use with delta temperature (DT) defined as the difference between them. Measurements were made at different irrigation heights (30, 40, and 50 cm H 2 O), frequency (Hz), and laser energy (J) in addition to the presence or absence of the access sheath. Analysis of factors associated with temperature change was performed. Results Thirty-eight observations were recorded. The measurement without the use of access sheath showed an average DT of 4.9, 5.1, and 6.5°C for 5, 10, and 15 Hz, respectively; however, with a sheath, DTs were 0.2, 0.5, and 1.5°C. In terms of energy, mean DTs of 4.3, 6.1, 5.2, and 13.9°C for 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, and 1.5 J were recorded; in contrast, with a sheath, averages of 0.4, 0.5, 0.5, and 3.8°C, respectively were noted. In the adjusted model, energy, frequency, and use of sheath and water height were significant. Conclusions The configuration of the laser significantly modifies the intrarenal temperature and height of the bladder irrigation. The use of an access sheath provides lower intrarenal temperatures regardless of laser configuration and water height.

Introduction Small testicular lesions ≤20 mm (STL) detected by ultrasound (US), usually non-palpable, have been reported to be benign in up to 80% of cases. Thus, partial orchiectomy with or without frozen section examination and surveillance has been advocated for these kinds of lesions. We seek to report the proportion of benign lesions in testicular tumors ≤20 mm detected by US in our population and explore the predicting factors of malignancy. Material and methods A retrospective descriptive study of orchiectomies performed for testicular tumors in patients older than 15 years between 2005 and 2019 was performed, including all patients with lesions ≤20 mm on US imaging. Results A total of 70 patients with STL were included (mean age 34.6 ±10.8 years). Overall, 69% of the lesions were malignant while the smallest lesions (≤10 mm) showed 61% of cancer. Moreover, in the subgroup of non-palpable lesions ≤10 mm, 50% were malignant. Multifocal tumors were found in 18 subjects with a malignancy rate of 88%. There was a significant association between maximum size on US, multifocality and malignancy. Neither tumor markers nor palpability foretold a malignant lesion. A predictive model including size and multifocality was created showing a positive predictive value of 83.3%. Conclusions US maximum size and multifocality were predictors of malignancy in STL. However, even the smallest lesions showed a 50% chance of being malignant, thus surgery with or without intraoperative biopsy is warranted in most cases.