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Objective-To determine the impact of comorbidity on survival of bladder cancer patients.Methods-The population included 675 patients with newly diagnosed bladder cancer whose medical information was abstracted from a hospital cancer registry. Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27, a validated instrument, was used to prospectively categorize comorbidity. Independent variables assessed include comorbidity, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, grade, age, gender, and race. Outcome measure was overall survival. We analyzed the entire cohort, patients with noninvasive disease, and patients requiring cystectomy. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to assess impact of independent variables on survival.Results-Median age at diagnosis for the entire cohort was 71 yr and median follow-up was 45 mo. Of 675 patients, 446 had at least one comorbid condition and 301 died during follow-up. On multivariable analysis for the entire cohort, comorbidity (p = 0.0001), AJCC stage (p = 0.0001), age (p = 0.0001), and race (p = 0.0045) significantly predicted overall survival. On subset analysis of noninvasive bladder cancer patients, comorbidity (p = 0.0001) and age (p = 0.0001) independently predicted overall survival, whereas stage, grade, race, and gender did not. On subset analysis of cystectomy patients, comorbidity (p = 0.0053), stage (p = 0.0001), and race (p = 0.0449) significantly predicted overall survival.Conclusions-Comorbidity is an independent predictor of overall survival in the entire cohort of bladder cancer patients, the subset with noninvasive disease, and the subset treated with cystectomy.

Objectives-While the classification of cancer has traditionally focused on gross and microscopic characteristics of the tumor, overall health of a patient can impact survival. Since patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) often have other medical conditions, we explored the impact of preexisting medical disease on survival following radical and partial nephrectomy. Results-The median follow-up was 32.2 months for survivors and 36.5 months for all patients. OS rate at 1, 3, and 5 years was 92.0% (641 patients), 75.3% (525 patients) and 52.7% (367 patients). Univariate analyses demonstrated that age, comorbidity, tumor size, Fuhrman grade, and pathologic stage were significant predictors of OS. Multivariate analysis revealed that age (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.10-1.82, p=0.0067), comorbidity (HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16-1.63, p=0.0002), pathologic stage (HR 1.97, 95% CI 1.60-2.41, p<0.0001) and grade (HR 1.83, 95% CI 1.28-2.59, p=0.0008) predicted OS. Methods-BetweenConclusions-This study demonstrates that comorbidity is an independent prognostic factor for OS in RCC patients. Capturing comorbidity information using validated instruments can improve the preoperative evaluation of patients by providing more accurate prognostic information.

Objective: To compare both the dorsal onlay technique of Barbagli and the dorsal inlay technique of Asopa for the management of long anterior urethral stricture. Methods: From January 2010 to May 2012, a total of 47 patients with long anterior urethral strictures were randomized into two groups. The first group included 25 patients who were managed by dorsal onlay buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty. The second group included 22 patients who were managed by dorsal inlay buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty. Different clinical parameters, postoperative complications and success rates were compared between both groups. Results: The overall success rate in the dorsal onlay group was 88%, whereas in the dorsal inlay group the success rate was 86.4% during the follow-up period. The mean operative time was significantly longer in the dorsal onlay urethroplasty group (205 ± 19.63 min) than in the dorsal inlay urethroplasty group (128 ± 4.9 min, P-value <0.0001). The average blood loss was significantly higher in the dorsal onlay urethroplasty group (228 ± 5.32 mL) than in the dorsal inlay urethroplasty group (105 ± 12.05 mL, P-value <0.0001). Conclusions:The dorsal onlay technique of Barbagli and the dorsal inlay technique of Asopa buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty provide similar success rates. The Asopa technique is easy to carry out, provides shorter operative time and less blood loss, and it is associated with fewer complications for anterior urethral stricture repair.Key words: anterior uretheral sricture, buccal mucosal graft, dorsal inlay technique of Asopa, dorsal onlay technique of Barbagli.

Abstract:Purpose: The purpose of this review is to evaluate different techniques in urinary diversion and urethral stenting in hypospadias surgery. Patients and methods:The surgical procedure included 192 tubularized incised plate (TIP) repairs for distal penile hypospadias. The patients were prospectively randomized into three groups: In group A, a urethral catheter was used as a stent and for diversion of urine (63 patients); in group B we use no urethral stenting (63 patients), only a suprapubic catheter; and in group C we use a suprapubic diversion and we put a small catheter in the anterior urethra only (66 patients). The urethral catheter was removed in group A at the 6th-7th postoperative day and in group C the urethral stent was removed at the 3rd-4th postoperative day. The suprapubic catheter was removed in both groups B and C at the 7th-9th postoperative day. All patients received an injection of antibiotics in the morning of the operation and daily until the day of catheter removal. All of the operations were performed by the same surgeon. Results: The mean ages of our patients were 3, 5, and 5 years in groups A, B, and C, respectively. The mean hospital stay was 5 days (3-8). Follow-up ranged from 8 to 48 months (mean of 21.5 ± 10.1 months). Bladder spasm was observed in 33% of our patients in group A while there were no cases of spasm in the other two groups with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). Fistula was reported in eight patients (12.7%) of our urethral catheter group A, while it was observed in three patients (2.3%) of our suprapubic diversion groups B and C with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.05). Meatal stenosis was reported in eight patients in group B (12.7%; nonstented group) versus three patients of both groups A and C (2.4%; stented groups) with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Suprapubic diversion is an important step in hypospadias repair as it provides a better success rate with a significantly lower rate of occurrence of fistula. However, the addition of a stent in the anterior urethra to suprapubic diversion avoids the development of meatal stenosis and also avoids the bladder spasm observed with a urethral catheter.