Urinary problems in decompression sickness.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Dounis.
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Papillomas of the upper urinary tract may be multiple, developing either simultaneously or at various times. Recurrence may occur many years after surgical treatment, even after thirty years, as in the case we report.
The records of 25 patients with type II decompression sickness and urinary problems have been reviewed. Seventeen patients were professionals and 8 were above the age of 40. The disease appeared within the 1st hour of emergence from the water in 70% of the cases and within the first 4 hours in the remaining 30%. Nine patients were diagnosed as paraplegic and two as tetraplegic. All patients had urinary disturbances and 14 were on Foley-catheter drainage during the decompression while 11 were on intermittent catheterisation. Fifteen patients had improved urinary function after recompression, 8 had some difficulty, 2 underwent a sphincterotomy and one a transurethral prostatectomy. The low percentage of complete recovery was due to the delayed arrival at the decompression chamber.
Amyloidosis of the urethra is a rare condition. A case of primary localized amyloidosis of the male external urethral meatus and navicular fossa is reported.
Two cases of primary malignant melanoma of the penis are reported and 35 cases from the world literature are reviewed. The tumour most commonly started in the glans penis and less frequently from the prepuce. The microscopic appearances were identical with those of tumours arising elsewhere in the skin. A comparison is made between the incidence of melanoma of the penis and melanoma occurring elsewhere on the body surface. Evaluation of the best treatment was difficult because the total number of cases was small and the methods of treatment and results so variable. It would seem that the prognosis of malignant melanoma of the penis is generally poor, although there are sufficient examples of long-term survival after total amputation in Stage I disease to suggest that this radical treatment is justified.
Thirty-nine male patients with urethral stricture have undergone urethrotomy using the Sachse optical urethrotome. Post-operatively a urethral catheter was used for 24 to 72 h. The technique is simple, the stay in hospital is short and complications are uncommon. Eighty-two per cent of the patients are now symptom-free and further 13% are sufficiently improved to be able to void satisfactorily at follow-up varying from 4 months to 2 1/2 years (mean 12 months). The 2 patients in whom unsatisfactory results were obtained had long strictures. We feel that direct vision urethrotomy should be considered as a treatment for urethral stricture.
Twenty patients with histologically proven balantis xerotica obliterans have undergone different forms of treatment; their progress has been reviewed and discussed. Balanitis xerotica obliterans involving only the foreskin was best treated by circumcision. The patients in whom meatal stenosis was present responded well to regular meatal dilatation, meatotomy followed by regular dilatation and, in advanced cases, to meatoplasty. At present there is no evidence to indicate that associated urethral strictures, proximal to the fossa navicularis, are due to balanitis xerotica obliterans.
Fifty-nine patients who had undergone augmentation cystoplasty were studied over a period of 18 years. The indications for the operation were a tuberculous contracted bladder in 51, interstitial cystitis in 7 and carcinoma in 1. The ileum was used in one patient, the colon in 16 and the caecum in 42. The results did not seem to be influenced by the segment of bowel and the long-term results of using the colon as bladder substitute were similar to those achieved by using the caecum. An excellent result has been achieved in 78% of the 49 surviving patients. Operative mortality was 5.1% (3 patients). Contraindications include progressive severe renal failure, enuresis and a history of previous psychiatric disturbance.
A retrospective study of 32 adult patients undergoing ureteric reimplantation for reflux has been carried out. Reflux and reimplantation in relation to urolithiasis, pregnancy, renal failure, hypertension and bladder neck obstruction have been discussed. Eighty-four per cent of patients with primary reflux had pyelonephritic scarring compared with only 34% of patients where reflux was secondary. Reimplantation has been technically successful in preventing reflux in every patient in this series, with 18 patients (65%) becoming symptom free. Pyelonephritis, hypertension and renal failure were not significantly improved but no progressive changes were observed in the follow-up period after reimplantation.
One hundred and seventy children with vesicoureteric reflux have been reviewed. Conservative therapy was the treatment of choice in Grade I reflux. Children with Grade II and Grade II reflux treated conservatively developed progressive upper tract dilation and scarring. Unilateral reflux sometimes became bilateral. In addition, the grade of reflux could worsen in the absence of symptoms or overt infection. Cystourethroscopy was an important investigation as an aid to management: the findings of abnormal ureteric orifices in the presence of Grade II and Grade III reflux indicated early surgical treatment. Surgery was also indicated in the presence of ureteric dilatation on excretion urography aand/or micturating cystourography. Vesicouretic reimplantation gave excellent results with few complications.
A symptomatic and, where possible, urodynamic assessment has been made in 19 patients undergoing enterocystoplasty over a 16-year period. It is suggested that this operation should be considered in those cases of interstitial cystitis and irritable bladder syndrome in which all recognised medical and surgical treatment has failed.
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