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T Lehtonen

Publications and source records attributed to T Lehtonen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Prospective randomized trial of interferon alfa-2a plus vinblastine versus vinblastine alone in patients with advanced renal cell cancer.

PURPOSE: The combination of interferon alfa-2a (IFNalpha2a) plus vinblastine (VLB) induces objective tumor responses in patients with advanced renal cell cancer. However, no prospective randomized trial has shown that this treatment prolongs overall survival. We compared overall survival after treatment with IFNalpha2a plus VLB versus VLB alone in patients with advanced renal cell cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We prospectively randomized 160 patients with locally advanced or metastatic renal cell cancer to receive either VLB alone or IFNalpha2a plus VLB for 12 months or until progression of disease. In both groups, VLB was administered intravenously at 0.1 mg/kg every 3 weeks, and in the combination group IFNalpha2a was administered subcutaneously at 3 million units three times a week for 1 week, and 18 million units three times a week thereafter for the second and subsequent weeks. For patients unable totolerate IFNalpha2a at 18 million units per injection, the dose was reduced to 9 million units. RESULTS: Median survival was 67.6 weeks for the 79 patients receiving IFNalpha2a plus VLB and 37.8 weeks for the 81 patients treated with VLB (P =.0049). Overall response rates were 16. 5% for patients treated with IFNalpha2a plus VLB and 2.5% for patients treated with VLB alone (P =.0025). Treatment with the combination was associated with constitutional symptoms and abnormalities in laboratory parameters, but no toxic deaths were reported. CONCLUSION: The combination of IFNalpha2a plus VLB is superior to VLB alone in the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma. This is the first study to demonstrate that survival can be prolonged by using IFNalpha2a for these patients.

Adult↗

Finasteride following balloon dilatation of the prostate. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of finasteride administered for 24 months following successful balloon dilatation in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 75 patients with moderate to severe symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia were first treated with balloon dilatation. After a 4-week placebo runin period, 64 patients with successful dilatation and over 50 % reduction in symptoms were randomized to receive either finasteride (33 pts.) at 5 mg/day or placebo (31 pts.) for 24 months. Altogether 12 patients dropped out at some stage, and the final analysis hence included 27 patients in the finasteride group and 25 patients in the placebo group. RESULTS: The symptom scores increased by an average of 3.2 points in the finasteride group and 4.4 points in the placebo group during two years. The mean maximum flow in the finasteride group remained constant: 13.7 ml/s at baseline and 13.9 ml/s at 24 months. In the placebo group the mean maximum flow decreased from 13.3 ml/sec to 11.2 ml/s. During the two-year study period, neither of the groups displayed any changes in residual urine. The above mentioned changes were not statistically significant, however. Prostate volume and serum PSA were significantly lower in the finasteride group (p < 0.001). The groups did not differ with regard to side-effects. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the findings, BPH patients with moderate to severe symptoms can be treated with balloon dilatation. The effect of balloon dilatation is quick, and it alleviates the patients' symptoms immediately. Finasteride treatment maintains the positive effect of balloon dilatation. This combination of treatment is tolerated well and side-effects are rare. The favourable effect of balloon dilatation was maintained for at least two years. Finasteride treatment diminished significantly both prostate volume and serum prostate-specific antigen after balloon dilatation compared to placebo treatment.

Catheterization↗

MRI and CT in blunt renal trauma: an update.

In our experience, MRI is as effective as CT in correctly staging renal injury. The coronal and sagittal slice orientations of MRI are particularly helpful in determining the extent of the renal parenchymal damage. Both methods are accurate in finding perirenal hematomas, assessing the viability of renal fragments, and detecting preexisting renal abnormalities but are relatively inaccurate in visualizing urinary extravasation. Although CT remains the method of choice in radiological staging of renal injury, MRI can complement CT in patients with severe renal injury, preexisting renal abnormality, equivocal CT findings, or when repeated radiological follow-up is required. MRI could replace CT in patients with iodine allergy and be used for initial staging if CT is not available.

Humans↗

[Treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with Proscar (finasteride). Results of a 10-year Scandinavian study].

707 patients with moderate prostatic hyperplasia were recruited to a two-year Scandinavian multicenter study. The study was randomized, prospective and double-blind. Half of the patients were treated with finasteride (5 mg daily) and the controls were given placebo. The patients were monitored with regard to symptoms, urinary flow rate and prostate volume. In addition, various laboratory examinations were performed. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups with regard to symptom improvement and increase in urinary flow rate in favour of finasteride. Finasteride reduced prostate volume and stopped further growth, leading to a difference of 30% in prostate volume between the two groups after two years of treatment. Thus, finasteride was able to stop the continuous growth of the prostate in the elderly male. The proportion of patients with adverse clinical experiences was similar in both treatment groups. However, the finasteride-treated group contained more patients with sexual dysfunction. We conclude that finasteride is an alternative to vigilant waiting for patients with moderate symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Aged↗

[Finanseride in symtomatic benign prostatic hyeprtrophy. A 2-year placebo-controlled study].

The efficacy and safety of treatment with finasteride 5 mg daily for 24 months was assessed in this multicentre double blind placebo-controlled study including 707 patients with moderately symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Efficacy parameters were changes in voiding- and bladder storage symptoms assessed by a validated symptom score, changes in maximum urinary flow rate and changes in the prostate volume. In the finasteride patients, symptom score improved during the whole study with a significant difference between active treatment and placebo after 24 months (p < 0.01). Maximum flow rate increased in finasteride treated patients resulting in a difference between these and the placebo treated patients of 1.8 ml/s after 24 months (p < 0.01). Prostate volume was reduced by 19% in the finasteride treated patients versus an increase of 12% in the placebo treated patient group (p < 0.01). Finasteride was well tolerated. Patients receiving placebo progressed in symptoms after 16 months. Finasteride can halt the natural progression of moderately symptomatic BPH over a 24 month period.

Aged↗

Results of treatment in testicular nonseminoma.

Seventy-one testicular nonseminomatous germ cell tumours were treated in the Helsinki University Central Hospital between 1980 and 1990. Thirty-five (49%) were stage I, 16 (23%) stage II and 20 (28%) stage III tumours. The 5-year survival rates were 91%, 94% and 70%, respectively. Five of the eight patients relapsing in stage I had adverse histopathological risk factors in their tumours. In the retrospective evaluation two stage I patients had actually a higher stage. The good results in stage II were achieved with a routine combination of chemotherapy and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. All five patients lost for stage III nonseminoma had risk factors for unfavourable prognosis: liver metastases or very high serum markers at diagnosis. The results presented here are considerably better than in the 1970s in this country and well comparable to results from countries where this malignancy is more common. Still some patients were lost. Co-operation in different fields of medicine is essential to find and treat optimally those with more aggressive disease and those who are cured with less strenuous treatment modalities.

Adolescent↗

Can finasteride reverse the progress of benign prostatic hyperplasia? A two-year placebo-controlled study. The Scandinavian BPH Study Group.

OBJECTIVES: To study if placebo-induced improvement in men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is maintained over 2 years, and to study the efficacy and safety from intervention with finasteride 5 mg for 24 months. METHODS: This was a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 707 patients with moderate symptoms of BPH enrolled at 59 centers in five Scandinavian countries. Following enrollment and a 4-week single-blind placebo run-in period, patients were randomized to receive finasteride 5 mg once daily or placebo for 24 months. Urinary symptoms, urinary flow rate, prostate volume, postvoiding residual urinary volume, and serum concentrations of prostate-specific antigen together with laboratory safety parameters were measured at entry and at months 12 and 24. Interim physical and laboratory examinations were performed when indicated clinically. RESULTS: In finasteride-treated patients the total symptom score improved throughout the study, with a significant difference between the two groups at 24 months (P < or = 0.01), whereas in placebo-treated patients, there was an initial improvement in the symptom score but no change from baseline at 24 months. The maximum urinary flow rate decreased in the placebo group, but improved in the finasteride group, resulting in a between-group difference of 1.8 mL/s at 24 months (P < or = 0.01). The mean change in prostate volume was +12% in the placebo group versus -19% in the finasteride-treated group (P < 0.01). Finasteride was generally well tolerated throughout the 2-year study period. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of therapy with finasteride 5 mg in improving both symptoms and maximum urinary flow rate and reducing prostate volume has been shown to be maintained during 24 months while patients receiving placebo experienced a return to baseline or deterioration of these parameters during the study. These results demonstrate that finasteride can reverse the natural progression of BPH.

Aged↗

Comparison of high-field magnetic resonance imaging with computed tomography in the evaluation of blunt renal trauma.

OBJECTIVE: To compare magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and computed tomography (CT) in radiographic staging of blunt renal trauma. DESIGN: A prospective study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen patients with blunt renal trauma not requiring early surgical treatment underwent CT, and high-field (1.0 T) MR imaging. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: MR imaging equaled CT in correctly grading the renal injury. The coronal and sagittal projections of MR imaging were helpful in determining the extent of the renal parenchymal lesion. Both methods were accurate in finding perirenal hematomas, assessing the viability of renal fragments, and detecting pre-existing renal abnormalities, but failed to visualize urinary extravasation on initial examination. CONCLUSIONS: Although CT remains the method of choice in radiographic staging of renal injury, MR imaging can complement CT in patients with severe renal injury, pre-existing renal abnormality, equivocal CT findings, or when repeated radiographic follow-up is required. MR imaging could replace CT in patients with iodine allergy and be used for initial staging if CT is not available.

Adolescent↗

Aetiology of priapism in 207 patients.

Two hundred and seven patients were treated for priapism in Finnish hospitals in 1973-1990. In order to analyse the aetiology of priapism, the original data on these and on 163 age- and time-matched controls, who underwent appendicectomy, were collected from the hospitals. The information was completed by collecting extra data from other hospitals and health centres or by personal contacts. In 43 of the 207 cases (21%), the cause of priapism was an intracavernous injection of a vaso-active drug. These patients were excluded from the logistic regression analysis used to evaluate the most essential factors associated with priapism. They were found to abuse alcohol (p < 0.001), use psychopharmaceuticals (p < 0.001), antihypertensive drugs (p = 0.003), anticoagulants (p = 0.005), as well as to have lumbar disc pain (p = 0.002) and chronic prostatitis (p = 0.01). Smoking was also significantly more common in the patients affected by priapism (56%) than in the controls (33%), being significantly associated with heavy alcohol drinking and use of psychopharmaceuticals. A disease or trauma was a possible causative factor in one third of the patients. The present study confirms the suggestion of a multifactorial aetiology for the initiation of priapism.

Adolescent↗

Residual stones after percutaneous nephrolithotomy; sensitivities of different imaging methods in renal stone detection.

Kidneys of 35 renal stone patients treated with percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) were examined at 12-36 months (mean 23 months) after the procedure by plain radiography (PR), conventional linear tomography (LT), computed tomography (CT), and ultrasonography (US) to find out the long-term stone-free rate as well as the accuracy of these imaging methods to detect residual or recurrent renal stones. The present series included 36 kidneys with a 56% postoperative stone-free status examined by plain radiography and a 58% one examined by linear tomography at 12-36 months. CT showed 47% and US 72% of the kidneys to be stone-free, respectively. The sensitivity of CT was superior to plain radiography (P < 0.05), linear tomography (P < 0.05) or US (P < 0.001) in the detection of residual or recurrent stones after percutaneous nephrolithotomy analyzed statistically by McNemar's test. In the same group of 35 patients, which consisted of the above 36 postoperative kidneys together with 19 contralateral kidneys, a total of 55 kidneys were evaluated by the above methods, revealing 56 stones in 31 kidneys. Of these stones 95% were detected by CT, 70% by plain radiography, 68% by linear tomography, and 32% by renal US. Of the 55 kidneys, 14 contained 20 stone fragments smaller than 3 mm, and 26 kidneys carried 43 concrements smaller than 6 mm. The sensitivities of the four imaging methods in the detection of these small fragments were as follows: plain radiography 60% and 60%, linear tomography 55% and 58%, CT 95% and 93%, and US 15% and 26%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Follow-Up Studies↗

The effect of prostatic capsule perforation on the absorption of irrigating fluid during transurethral resection.

Thirty patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate using ethanol-tagged irrigating fluid were investigated in order to study the effects of a breach in the prostatic capsule. Measurements were made of end-tidal ethanol (ET-ethanol) in the expired air, serum glycine and sodium, haemoglobin, blood loss and volumetric determination of irrigating fluid absorption. Perforation of the prostatic capsule occurred in 13 patients (Group P), with 17 judged to have no perforation (Group NP). In all Group NP patients the ET-ethanol remained below 0.05/1000, serum sodium decreased by < or = 3 mmol/l and serum glycine remained < 1.5 mmol/l. ET-ethanol was significantly increased in Group P, rising to between 0.1 and 0.45/1000 in 5 patients, 3 of whom showed a reduction in serum sodium > 5 mmol/l. Five patients in Group P demonstrated significantly raised serum glycine concentrations up to 15 mmol/l. These findings suggest that perforation of the prostatic capsule may lead to rapid absorption of irrigating fluid, and that ET-ethanol monitoring is a useful method of detecting this quickly.

Absorption↗

Parenchyma-conserving surgery for renal cell carcinoma.

Between 1969 and 1992, 32 patients underwent conservative surgery (partial nephrectomy or enucleation) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Elective parenchyma-conserving surgery (n = 10) was done in patients with small, peripheral kidney tumors and a normal contralateral kidney. Cancer in a solitary kidney, bilateral tumors, dysfunctional contralateral kidney or chronic renal failure were imperative indications (n = 22) for conservative surgery. In the elective group the tumors were 15-100 mm (mean 37 mm) in diameter, in the imperative group 5 to 200 mm (mean 41 mm). The follow-up was 0.2-192 months (mean 48.7 months). Nine of 22 (41%) patients in the imperative group have died of RCC. There were no renal cancer related deaths in the elective group. The 5-year cause-specific survival rates for the elective and imperative groups were 100% and 46%, respectively. Two patients in the elective group have died of unrelated causes. Local recurrences developed in three of 22 patients in the imperative group after a mean of 5.4 years; two of them had von Hippel-Lindau disease with bilateral RCC. Conservative surgery seems to be a feasible option in small peripheral kidney tumors.

Carcinoma, Renal Cell↗

Treatment of urinary stones by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

A total of 1641 ESWL-treatments were performed in 948 patients at Helsinki University Central Hospital between June 1989 and December 1991. In a series of 816 patients and 1287 treatments with data available 681 (76.4%) stones were located in the kidney, 208 (23.3%) in the ureter, and three (0.3%) in the urinary bladder. Auxiliary procedures were performed in 156 (19.1%) and repeated treatments in 300 (36.8%) patients. The most common complication was intensive pain during the procedure in 138 (16.9%) patients. The first 139 patients were followed until six months after their last ESWL-procedure. The six-month stone-free rates of renal and ureteric stones of these patients were 67.4% and 86.7%, respectively. The overall six-month clearance rate was 72.4%.

Age Distribution↗

Scandinavian clinical study of finasteride in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

The effects of finasteride, a potent 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor, were assessed in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Patients were treated with finasteride or placebo for 24 weeks in a double-blind multicenter study followed by a 12-month open-extension period. After 24 weeks, finasteride-treated patients, when compared to placebo-treated patients, showed a significant reduction in prostate volume (22.5% median decrease) and prostate significant antigen (32.4% median decrease), a significant increase in maximum urinary flow (1.6 ml/s mean increase from baseline) and a significant improvement in their obstructive symptom scores (two-point decrease from baseline). Finasteride was well tolerated, and the improvements in prostate volume, maximum urinary flow rate and obstructive symptom scores observed in the controlled study were maintained throughout the extension study.

5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors↗

Localized amyloidosis of the urinary bladder.

Localized amyloidosis of the urinary bladder is a rare condition. Five patients, 1 with localized secondary amyloidosis, are described. The symptoms, macroscopic hematuria and tumor-like appearance in cystoscopy, may mimic bladder cancer. Diagnosis is based on histopathological examinations with Congo red staining. In most instances, the treatment of choice is transurethral resection and electrocoagulation. Because of the risk of recurrences, a close follow-up is recommended.

Aged↗

Fibroepithelial polyps of the ureter.

Two cases of ureteric fibroepithelial polyps are presented. Macroscopic haematuria and flank pain were seen as symptoms in both cases. Intravenous urography, retrograde ureteropyelography, computed tomography, and ureterorenoscopy with visual biopsies were used as diagnostic methods. As a result of the preoperative diagnostics, saving surgical procedures (local excision and coagulation of the base of the tumour) were used with good results. The therapy of ureteric tumours should always be founded on the preoperative histological diagnosis and should be conservative transureteric or open surgical.

Adult↗

Intramural ureteric injury due to acute dilatation.

The effect of balloon dilatation of the ureteric orifice and the intramural ureter was evaluated histologically and radiologically in eight piglets. The distal part of the ureter was dilated from its normal calibre of 4F to 12F. Four weeks after the procedure obvious histological signs due to the preceding dilatation were seen in seven of the eight ureters. In simultaneous radiological studies two ureters showed massive and one slight dilatation and two ureters showed vesicoureteral reflux. The results suggest cautious use of dilatation. Small calibre ureterscopes without ureteric dilatation should be preferred.

Animals↗