Implications and Contribution: Evidence from this literature review provides guidance from the Pediatric Initiative Network of the Oncofertility Consortium for health care providers establishing a pediatric fertility preservation program.

The incidence of childhood cancer has steadily increased since the 1950s, with approximately 16,000 children diagnosed each year. However, with the advent of more effective multimodal therapies, childhood cancer survival rates have continued to improve over the past 40 years, with >80% of patients now surviving into adulthood. Fertility preservation (FP) has become an important quality-of-life issue for many survivors of childhood cancer. As a result, the therapeutic options have become less gonadotoxic over time and more patients are being offered FP options. This review examines the indications for consultation, male and female FP options both in the prepubertal patient and adolescent patient, and the unique ethical issues surrounding FP in this vulnerable population. Cancer 2018;124:1867-76. © 2018 American Cancer Society.

IntroductionLower urinary tract reconstruction in paediatric urology represents a physiologically stressful event that is associated with high complication rates, including readmissions and emergency room visits. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol is a set of multidisciplinary, perioperative strategies designed to expedite surgical recovery without adversely impacting readmission or reoperation rates. Early paediatric urology data demonstrated ERAS reduced complications in this population.Methods and analysisIn 2016, a working group of paediatric urologists and anaesthesiologists convened to develop an ERAS protocol suitable for patients undergoing lower urinary tract reconstruction and define study process measures, patient-reported outcomes and clinically relevant outcomes in paediatric and adolescent/young adult patients. A multicentre, prospective, propensity-matched, case–control study design was chosen. Each centre will enrol five pilot patients to verify implementation. Subsequent enrolled patients will be propensity matched to historical controls. Eligible patients must be aged 4–25 years and undergoing planned operations (bladder augmentation, continent ileovesicostomy or appendicovesicostomy, or urinary diversion). 64 ERAS patients and 128 controls will be needed to detect a decrease in mean length of stay by 2 days. Pilot phase outcomes include attainment of ≥70% mean protocol adherence per patient and reasons for protocol deviations. Exploratory phase primary outcome is ERAS protocol adherence, with secondary outcomes including length of stay, readmissions, reoperations, emergency room visits, 90-day complications, pain scores, opioid usage and differences in Quality of Recovery 9 scores.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been registered with authors’ respective institution review boards and will be published in peer-reviewed journals. It will provide robust insight into the feasibility of ERAS in paediatric urology, determine patient outcomes and allow for iteration of ERAS implementations as new best practices and evidence for paediatric surgical care arise. We anticipate this study will take 4 years to fully accrue with completed follow-up.Trial registration numberNCT03245242.

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Nuclear protein import in eukaryotic cells is mediated by karyopherin proteins, which bind to specific nuclear localization signals on substrate proteins and transport them across the nuclear envelope and into the nucleus. Replication protein A (RPA) is a nuclear protein comprised of three subunits (termed Rfa1, Rfa2, and Rfa3 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that binds single-stranded DNA and is essential for DNA replication, recombination, and repair. RPA associates with two different karyopherins in yeast, Kap95, and Msn5/Kap142. However, it is unclear which of these karyopherins is responsible for RPA nuclear import. We have generated GFP fusion proteins with each of the RPA subunits and demonstrate that these Rfa-GFP chimeras are functional in yeast cells. The intracellular localization of the RPA proteins in live cells is similar in wild-type and msn5Δ deletion strains but becomes primarily cytoplasmic in cells lacking functional Kap95. Truncating the C-terminus of any of the RPA subunits results in mislocalization of the proteins to the cytoplasm and a loss of protein-protein interactions between the subunits. Our data indicate that Kap95 is likely the primary karyopherin responsible for RPA nuclear import in yeast and that the C-terminal regions of Rfa1, Rfa2, and Rfa3 are essential for efficient nucleocytoplasmic transport of each RPA subunit.

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IntroductionRegional techniques are a key component of multimodal analgesia and help decrease opioid use perioperatively, but some techniques may not be suitable for all patients, such as those with spina bifida. We hypothesized peripheral regional catheters would reduce postoperative opioid use compared with no regional analgesia without increasing pain scores in pediatric patients with spina bifida undergoing major urological surgery.MethodsA retrospective review of a multicenter database established for the study of enhanced recovery after surgery was performed of patients from 2009 to 2021 who underwent bladder augmentation or creation of catheterizable channels. Patients without spina bifida and those receiving epidural analgesia were excluded. Opioids were converted into morphine equivalents and normalized to patient weight.Results158 patients with pediatric spina bifida from 7 centers were included, including 87 with and 71 without regional catheters. There were no differences in baseline patient factors. Anesthesia setup increased from median 40 min (IQR 34–51) for no regional to 64 min (IQR 40–97) for regional catheters (p<0.01). The regional catheter group had lower median intraoperative opioid usage (0.24 vs 0.80 mg/kg morphine equivalents, p<0.01) as well as lower in-hospital postoperative opioid usage (0.05 vs 0.23 mg/kg/day morphine equivalents, p<0.01). Pain scores were not higher in the regional catheters group.DiscussionContinuous regional analgesia following major urological surgery in children with spina bifida was associated with a 70% intraoperative and 78% postoperative reduction in opioids without higher pain scores. This approach should be considered for similar surgical interventions in this population.Trial registration numberNCT03245242.

Robotic upper urinary tract reconstruction (UUTR) has been widely utilized for surgical management of congenital obstruction. To further reduce morbidity and simplify postoperative care, outpatient robotic pyeloplasty (RP) and robotic ureteroureterostomy (RUU) were performed without ureteral stents, drains, or urethral catheters. The aim of the study was to assess the safety of performing tubeless robotic UUTR as an outpatient procedure. A retrospective review was performed for patients who underwent outpatient tubeless RP and RUU between July 2015 and January 2017. All procedures were primary interventions. No ureteral stents, drains, or urethral catheters were utilized. No regional blocks were utilized. Patients were discharged from the post anesthesia care unit as a scheduled outpatient procedure without an extended stay. Primary outcomes included 30-day complications, emergency room (ER) visits, and readmissions. A total of 19 patients (14 male, 5 female) were identified (RP = 17, RUU = 3), including one patient who underwent staged bilateral RP. Median age was 21.5 months (range 3-220). Median weight was 11.5 kg (range 6-89). Median operative time was 167 min (range 108-249), defined as skin incision to closure. No 30-day complications, ER visits, or readmissions were observed for any patient. The study concludes that pediatric tubeless outpatient robotic UUTR is safe. Further evaluation is needed to assess this approach on a larger scale, as well as assessing the long-term outcomes of tubeless reconstruction.