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Objective: The association between autoimmune diseases (ADs) and interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) has long been investigated. However, the lack of comprehensive descriptions of patients in the literature has made comparison and evaluation impossible. We aim to investigate the risk of systemic ADs in patients with IC/BPS in Taiwan using a population-based administrative database.Methods: This study evaluated 1,095 patients newly diagnosed with IC/BPS between 2000 and 2013, using data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. These patients were randomly matched by demographic characteristics with a comparison cohort of individuals without IC/BPS at a ratio of 1:20. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to analyze the risk of ADs, adjusting for age, sex, urbanization, length of hospital stay, and comorbidities adjustment. Sensitivity analysis by propensity score was used to adjust for confounding factors.Results: The adjusted Hazard Ratio (aHR) of ADs for IC/BPS patients was 1.409 (95% CI 1.152–1.725). The subgroup analysis indicated that female or 45–60 years of age had a greater risk of ADs. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis of primary outcomes indicated that IC/BPS had greater incidence with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (aHR = 2.767, 95% CI 1.039–7.368), ankylosing spondylitis (aHR = 2.429, 95% CI 1.264–4.67), rheumatoid arthritis (aHR = 1.516, 95% CI 1.001–2.296), and Sjogren's syndrome (aHR = 1.962, 95% CI 1.37–2.809).Conclusion: IC/BPS was associated with the development of ADs in our study population, especially Hashimoto's thyroiditis, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjogren's syndrome. Clinicians are recommended to be alert to the increased likelihood of developing ADs, particularly for middle-aged women.

CT-guided percutaneous RFA is effective, safe and is a justifiable alternative for patients who are reluctant or unfit for laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of APA.

Background: Upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is the most common malignancy occurring after kidney transplantation (KT) in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between native kidney hydronephrosis and UTUC in post-KT patients. Methods: From 2003 to 2018, we conducted a retrospective cohort study that enrolled 1005 post-KT patients, 67 of whom were subsequently diagnosed with UTUC. We divided patients into two groups based on whether or not they had UTUC. Multivariate analysis and Kaplan-Meier plot were used to evaluate if native kidney hydronephrosis was associated with post-KT UTUC. Results: The total cohort consisted of 612 men (60.9%) and 393 women (39.1%) with a mean age of 48.2 ± 12.0 at KT. The mean follow-up time was 118.6 ± 70.2 months, and mean time from KT to UTUC was 7.53 years. There was a significant gender difference with a female predominance among the UTUC patients (73.1% versus 26.9%, p < 0.001). Native kidney hydronephrosis occurred more frequently in the UTUC group (68.7% versus 4.8%, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that native kidney hydronephrosis and female gender were significantly associated with UTUC with odds ratios of 35.32 (95% CI, 17.99–69.36; p < 0.001) and 3.37 (95% CI, 1.55–7.29; p = 0.002), respectively. UTUC in the post-KT patients also showed aggressive pathological characteristics and a tendency toward bilateral lesions (41.8%). Conclusions: Native kidney hydronephrosis is significantly associated with post-KT UTUC patients in Taiwan. Native kidney hydronephrosis may be a deciding factor for standard nephroureterectomy and bladder cuff excision in selected patients. Nevertheless, almost half of the patients with kidney hydronephrosis do not present with UTUC at the end of our study.