In order to improve standard reporting of outcomes after partial nephrectomy, different "trifecta" systems have been conceived. The subjective assessment of the included parameters and the unreliability for off-clamp procedures limited their reproducibility; their role in predicting functional and oncologic outcomes has never been assessed. We propose a new trifecta, based on standardized parameters, that summarizes PN outcomes regardless the clamping technique used and predicts main clinical outcomes. A retrospective analysis of a multicenter, multi-national dataset of patients with non-metastatic cT1-2 renal masses undergoing Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy was performed. Baseline demographic, clinical, pathologic and perioperative data were collected. Trifecta was defined as the coexistence of negative margins, no Clavien-Dindo ≥3 complications and ≤30% postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate reduction. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses identified predictors of trifecta achievement. Kaplan-Meier method assessed differences in oncological outcomes between patients achieving trifecta or not. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analysis identified predictors of newly onset chronic kidney disease stage ≥IIIa, recurrence-free and overall survival. Overall, 1492 patients achieved trifecta. This cohort displayed significantly lower incidence of newly onset IIIa-V chronic kidney disease stages (all P<0.001), higher recurrence-free (P=0.009) and overall (P=0.014) survival probabilities. Patients achieving trifecta had a 65% reduced risk of developing newly onset stage IIIb-V Chronic Kidney Disease and a 55% reduced risk of overall mortality. Heterogeneity of surgical technique is a limitation. This novel reproducible trifecta is based on standardized parameters and is an independent predictor of severe chronic kidney disease development and mortality.

Background: Current cross-sectional imaging modalities exhibit heterogenous diagnostic performances for the detection of a lymph node invasion (LNI) in bladder cancer (BCa) patients. Recently, the Node-RADS score was introduced to provide a standardized comprehensive evaluation of LNI, based on a five-item Likert scale accounting for both size and configuration criteria. In the current study, we hypothesized that the Node-RADS score accurately predicts the LNI and tested its diagnostic performance. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed BCa patients treated with radical cystectomy (RC) and bilateral extended pelvic lymph node dissection, from January 2019 to June 2022. Patients receiving preoperative systemic chemotherapy were excluded. A logistic regression analysis tested the correlation between the Node-RADS score and LNI both at patient and lymph-node level. The ROC curves and the AUC depicted the overall diagnostic performance. In addition, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for different cut-off values (>1, >2, >3, >4). Results: Overall, data from 49 patients were collected. Node-RADS assigned on CT scans images, was found to independently predict the LNI after an adjusted multivariable regression analysis, both at the patient (OR 3.36, 95%CI 1.68–9.40, p = 0.004) and lymph node (OR 5.18, 95%CI 3.39–8.64, p < 0.001) levels. Node-RADS exhibited an AUC of 0.87 and 0.91 at the patient and lymph node levels, respectively. With increasing Node-RADS cut-off values, the specificity and PPV increased from 57.1 to 97.1% and from 48.3 to 83.3%, respectively. Conversely, the sensitivity and NPV decreased from 100 to 35.7% and from 100 to 79.1%, respectively. Similar trends were recorded at the lymph node level. Potentially, Node-RADS > 2 could be considered as the best cut-off value due to balanced values at both the patient (77.1 and 78.6%, respectively) and lymph node levels (82.4 and 93.4%, respectively). Conclusions: The current study lays the foundation for the introduction of Node-RADS for the regional lymph-node evaluation in BCa patients. Interestingly, the Node-RADS score exhibited a moderate-to-high overall accuracy for the identification of LNI, with the possibility of setting different cut-off values according to specific clinical scenarios. However, these results need to be validated on larger cohorts before drawing definitive conclusions.

Background: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in characterizing between malignant and benign renal lesions confirmed by histological examination. Methods: Overall, 110 patients, for a total of 118 renal masses previously identified at CT and MRI underwent CEUS. An expert radiologist evaluated morphological, qualitative and quantitative parameters. Acquired data were analyzed to assess the value of each parameter to differentiate between malignant and benign lesions. Results: Histological results of 118 renal masses showed 88 (75%) malignant lesions and 30 (25%) benign lesions. Among morphological features, inhomogeneous echogenicity was the best predictor of malignancy depicting a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 76%, 76%, 88% and 57%, respectively. Among qualitative parameters, the most reliable parameter was the presence of pseudo-capsule. Here, sensitivity, specificity, positive PPV and NPV were 85%, 86%, 94% and 71%, respectively. Among quantitative parameters, the most reliable parameters were peak intensity (PI) and the area under the (AUC) with sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV values of 94%, 92%, 96% and 87% and 99%, 92%, 97% and 97%, respectively. Finally, the most reliable parameters were combined to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions. The best combination obtained was restricted to CEUS parameters (PI and AUC). Here, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy rate were 93%, 100%, 100%, 83% and 93%, respectively. Conclusions: CEUS increases the US accuracy to discriminate between benign and malignant renal lesions.

Article: Renal surgery for kidney cancer: is preoperative proteinuria a predictor of functional and survival outcomes after surgery? A systematic review of the literature - Minerva Urology and Nephrology 2021 Jun 22 - Minerva Medica - Journals