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To investigate the prevalence of obesity phenotypes and their association with physical activity levels among diabetic hemodialysis patients. This is a cross-sectional study with 84 diabetic hemodialysis patients (63.5 ± 9.4 years, 54.8% of men). Obesity was diagnosed as high body fat (≥ 40% for male and ≥ 30% for female). Sarcopenic obesity was considered if low skeletal muscle mass (< 20.0 kg for males and < 15.0 kg for females) and obesity were combined. Dynapenic obesity was defined in the presence of low handgrip strength (< 27 kg for males and < 16 kg for females) and obesity. Muscle failure obesity was confirmed in the concomitant presence of obesity, sarcopenia, and dynapenia. Physical activity level was assessed by the Baecke questionnaire and patients were classified as low physical activity according to the first tertile for each of and total domains. Fifty-four patients (64%) presented obesity. From these, 5 (6%), 19 (23%) and 8 (10%) were classified as sarcopenic obese, dynapenic obese, and muscle failure obese, respectively, and 22 (26%) were only obese. Patients with sarcopenic obesity and muscle failure obesity had lower leisure and locomotion physical activity scores than non-obese, whereas the total domain score did not differ across the groups. Muscle failure obesity was independently associated with low leisure physical activity (OR 10.8, 95% CI 1.3–88.1). Only sarcopenic obesity was independently associated with the locomotion and total physical activity domains (OR 15.4, 95% CI 1.4–90.2 and OR 17.0, 95% CI 1.5–95.4, respectively). Our study found a lower prevalence of sarcopenic obesity compared to dynapenic obesity and muscle failure obesity among diabetic hemodialysis patients. Moreover, sarcopenic obesity and muscle failure obesity, but not dynapenic obesity, were associated with low physical activity levels.

Simple suprapubic closure operations were performed for complicated vesicovaginal fistulas in 23 patients. Fistulas with previous unsuccessful attempts (13 patients), fistulas located above the interureteric ridge (5 patients) and fistulas including the ureteral orifice (5 patients) were considered as good candidates for suprapubic approach. There have been 3 failures and, thus, the initial success rate is 86.9 per cent.

IgA nephropathy with nephrotic syndrome (nephrotic IgAN) is a rare form of IgAN. Its prognosis and response to steroid therapy are still controversial because the differential diagnosis between nephrotic IgAN and minimal change nephrotic syndrome with IgA depositions is sometimes confused. In this retrospective cohort analysis, we accurately diagnosed 42 cases of nephrotic IgAN (4.4%) from 954 IgAN patients, according to the Oxford classification. We analyzed the clinical and histological data, prognosis, and response to steroid therapy. In nephrotic IgAN, mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was 51.1 ± 24.6 ml/min, proteinuria was 5.71 ± 2.56 g/day, and urinary red blood cells were 51.0 ± 37.8 high power field. Both active and chronic histological lesions were observed. Cumulative renal survival rate was significantly lower in nephrotic IgAN than in non-nephrotic IgAN (the control group consisted of 47 non-nephrotic IgAN patients diagnosed between 1995 and 1996) (log-rank test: P < 0.0001). The cases with steroid therapy significantly improved their prognosis, though their male-to-female ratio and blood pressure level measured at renal biopsy were significantly lower than in the cases without steroid therapy. Steroid therapy was particularly effective in cases with low-grade tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis (T-grade in Oxford classification). Without steroid therapy, lower eGFR and higher T-grade were independent risk factors for severe outcome by multivariate Cox regression. Nephrotic IgAN is a very severe form of IgAN, with renal dysfunction, massive hematuria, and active and chronic histopathological lesions. Renal outcome is severe; however, steroid therapy can improve prognosis in cases with higher eGFR and lower T-grade, according to the Oxford classification.

To investigate the influence of the initial clinical presentation (symptomatic vs. asymptomatic) on histopathological tumor features in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). We conducted a single-center, cross-sectional, and retrospective study that enrolled 72 adults with primary UTUC who underwent radical nephroureterectomy at our institution over a period of 4 years (April 2019–April 2023). Symptomatic patients exhibited significantly higher frequencies of high-grade UTUC (73.6% vs. 36.8%, p = 0.006), ≥ T2 stage UTUC (60.4% vs. 26.3%, p = 0.007), and larger tumor sizes (median 5 vs. 4 cm, p = 0.015) compared to asymptomatic patients. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated significant associations between symptomatic presentation and the presence of high-grade UTUC (OR 6.35, 95% CI 1.81–22.27, p = 0.004), ≥ T2 stage UTUC (OR 5.98, 95% CI 1.62–22.08, p = 0.007), and larger tumor size (B 3.14, 95% CI 0.62–5.66, p = 0.015). A subset of patients with hematuria was separately analyzed to assess the influence of hematuria severity (gross vs. microscopic) on UTUC characteristics. Patients with gross hematuria exhibited significantly higher frequencies of high-grade UTUC (72.9% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.048) and ≥ T2 stage UTUC (58.3% vs. 22.2%, p = 0.001). Multiple regression analyses showed significant associations between gross hematuria and the presence of high-grade UTUC (OR 6.34, 95% CI 1.15–34.95, p = 0.034) and ≥ T2 stage UTUC (OR 6.54, 95% CI 1.11–38.93, p = 0.039). Initial symptomatic presentation was independently associated with adverse histopathological UTUC characteristics, potentially attributed to earlier detection of UTUC in asymptomatic patients, before the onset of symptoms.

We aimed to assess whether high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol modifies the association between adiponectin and incident cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and vice versa. At baseline, 106 T2DM participants with various degrees of renal function were enrolled and followed up over a period of 7 years with fatal/nonfatal CV events as outcome. During the follow-up, 49 participants experienced incident CV events (28 fatal, 21 nonfatal). On univariate Fine and Gray sub-hazard models, HDL cholesterol was a strong modifier of the association between adiponectin and CV outcomes both on crude (P = 0.011) and gender- and eGFR-adjusted models (P = 0.010). The protective effect for CV events portended by a fixed increase in adiponectin (1 μg/ml) was progressively higher across increasing values of HDL cholesterol. Moreover, plasma adiponectin also modified the protective effect of HDL on CV outcomes both in crude and multivariate analyses. We found a mutual effect modification between adiponectin and HDL as risk factors of CV events in participants with T2DM. Our results are coherent with the hypothesis that HDL cholesterol might play a pivotal role in the interpretation of the association between adiponectin and the risk of adverse CV outcomes in this population.

Tissue norepinephrine content in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was evaluated to detect possible histological differences in BPH subtypes and to investigate the correlation between norepinephrine levels and age, prostatic weight and clinical symptom score, respectively. Specimens were obtained from 28 patients who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate. Pathologically, 18 out of 28 specimens were classified as fibromyoadenomatous hyperplasia and the remaining 10 as fibromuscular type Norepinephrine content in the fibromyoadenomatous type was 133.1±23.1 ng/g, whereas it was 340.3±60.5 ng/g in the fibromuscular type. Norepinephrine level in the former group was significantly lower than that in the latter group (p<0.001). In both groups, there was no correlation between norepinephrine content, age and clinical symptom score, while the norepinephrine content had a reverse correlation with prostatic weight only in the former group (p<0.05). In conclusion, norepinephrine levels were dependent upon histological differences, especially upon the amount of smooth muscle elements, in the evaluated specimen. Severity of prostatism and patients' age showed no correlation with tissue norepinephrine content.

We report the first case of calyceal fornix rupture due to cystography in the literature. We recommend that instillation of all the contrast material should be attentively traced by the fluoroscope during cystography.

To compare modified laparoscopic simple enucleation (MLSE) and standard laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (SLPN) for treating localized renal cell carcinoma in our large institutional experience. We evaluated 385 consecutive patients who underwent MLSE or SLPN for renal tumors in our institution from January 2013 to December 2015 in terms of perioperative pathological and oncologic outcome variables. During MLSE, the single-layer suture technique was performed for renal reconstruction. In total, 280 patients underwent MLSE and 105 underwent SLPN. Mean operative time was 182.1 and 192.8 min, respectively (p = 0.078). Warm ischemic time was significantly lower in the MLSE than SLPN group (23.2 vs 25.4 min; p = 0.004). The estimated blood loss was similar (p = 0.537). Tumor bed suturing was performed in 9.3 and 82.9% of MLSE and SLPN cases (p = 0.000). No hilar clamping was needed for 29 MLSE patients (10.4%) and 4 SLPN patients (3.8%) (p = 0.041). Grade III complications were reported in 5 (1.8%) MLSE patients and 7 (6.6%) SLPN patients (p = 0.034). The incidence of positive surgical margins was comparable between the MLSE and SLPN groups (1.8 and 5.7%, p = 0.086). After a median follow-up of 18 months, recurrence did not differ between the 2 groups: 9 (3.2%) MLSE patients and 4 (3.8%) SLPN patients (p = 1.000). MLSE may confer shorter warm ischemic time, almost no need for tumor bed suturing and less grade III complications than SLPN, with similar oncologic outcomes. MLSE may be safe and acceptable for patients undergoing partial nephrectomy.

Gastrointestinal (GI) complication used to be the second most common complication in renal transplant patients after infection (Bardaxoglou et al. in Transpl Int 6(3):148–152, 1993). Review of transplant registry reveals that GI complication is no longer the second most common type of complication after renal transplant, but that it is still a common cause of significant amount of deaths in renal transplant recipients (De Bartolomeis et al. in Transpl Proc 37(6):2504–2506, 2005). In a study of 1,515 adults with severe GI complication after renal transplant, Sarkio et al. (Transpl Int 17(9):505–510, 2004) reported that gastroduodenal ulcers followed by colon perforation were the two biggest groups of GI complications during the first year after renal transplantation. Colonic perforation is estimated to occur in about 1 % of all cases of renal transplant patients, and it does predispose to potentially fatal complication. About 50 % of all colonic perforation is due to complication of acute inflammation of diverticular disease (Bardaxoglou et al. in Transpl Int 6(3):148–152, 1993; Guice et al. in Am J Surg 138(1):43–48, 1979; Koneru et al. in Arch Surg 125(5):610–613, 1990; Coccolini et al. in Transpl Proc 41(4):1189–1190, 2009). This is particularly so because these patients were previously exposed to uremia before transplantation which alters their protein metabolism hence interfering with tissue healing there after (Carson et al. in Ann Surg 188(1):109–113, 1978). GI complications including colon perforation after renal transplantation have effect on a patient’s long-term survival (Gil-Vernet et al. in Transpl Proc 39(7):2190–2193, 2007). Despite this, the role of renal transplantation medication compared to anatomic anomaly in GI complication has been equivocal.

Polyoma virus is a recognized cause of hemorrhagic cystitis, viral nephropathy, and ureteral stricture in renal and stem cell transplant recipients. Rarely, polyoma virus causes native kidney and bladder pathology in heavily immunosuppressed patients. We report a unique case of native kidney polyoma virus nephropathy, urothelial ulceration, and renal pelvic fibrosis presenting as a mass lesion in a non-debilitated, apparently immunocompetent man. Based on radiologic, ureterorenoscopic, and urine cytologic findings, a laparoscopic nephrectomy was performed. However, nephrectomy revealed a hemorrhagic scar-like lesion, with urothelial ulceration, but no neoplasm or malignancy. Histopathologic evaluation and immunostaining revealed polyoma viral infection in the nearby renal medulla. This case adds polyoma virus nephropathy to the differential diagnosis of non-neoplastic and reactive masses, which may mimic renal malignancy.