AMI-227 is safe and may facilitate the differentiation of metastatic and benign nodes in patients with urologic and pelvic cancers.

From September 1991 to February 1993, in 83 patients (74 women and nine men, aged 24-86 years), 166 double-J ureteral stents (initially placed to treat fistulas or stenoses located within the inferior third of the ureter) were exchanged during 127 procedures. Stents were extracted from the bladder through the urethra under fluoroscopic monitoring by using a lasso made of a 0.018-inch guide wire and a 7-F catheter. Then a new stent was placed over a 0.035-inch guide wire that had been previously coiled in the renal pelvis. Exchange was successful in 161 (97%) of 165 stents.

We describe changes in imaging features of a textiloma (retained surgical sponge or retained foreign body) left in the renal fossa after exploratory renal surgery. One year after the initial surgery, the MR aspect of the textiloma was not specific, with a homogeneous low signal intensity on T1-weighted images. Serial CT examinations over 4 years demonstrated progressive growth and calcification of the mass which appeared pseudocystic with a peripheral inflammatory wall. Granulomas caused by a retained surgical sponge should be considered as a cause of retroperitoneal mass in patients with a history of prior surgery.

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Background/Aim: The measurement of the vascular access blood flow rate (Q_a) in chronic hemodialyzed patients was proposed to predict access thrombosis. We have recently presented a new method based on the measurements of ionic dialysance at normal and reversed positions of the blood lines. We evaluate the reliability of the measurement of Q_a by this method in detecting significant access stenoses. Methods: Twenty-five patients on chronic hemodialysis and having a vascular access cannulated with two needles were studied. The Q_a was evaluated by the Diascan^® ionic dialysance (Q_a-id) method and by the ultrasound dilution technique (Q_a-us; Transonic^®) during the same dialysis session. The measurements were available for 23 patients. In addition, the patients had ultrasonography of their fistula followed by angiography, if a stenosis was detected. Results: Q_a-id and Q_a-us were not significantly different, showing a difference in Q_a at 32 ± 469 ml/min. Q_a-id was significantly different between patients with or without stenosis (508 ± 241 vs. 1,125 ± 652 ml/min, p < 0.05). Among patients with a Q_a <500 ml/min by Q_a-id, 5 had a stenosis detected by ultrasonography (sensitivity 83%), and 3 had no stenosis (false-positive rate 18%). Of these 3 patients, 2 had a thrombotic event at 1 and 3 months, suggesting that a more sensitive detection of stenosis for this range of Q_a is needed and that a Q_a <500 ml/min has a higher power to predict thromboses than a stenosis by ultrasonography. Conclusions: The measurement of the access flow rate by the Q_a-id method has a clinical relevance to the detection of vascular access stenosis. An intervention program based on the Q_a-id has to be evaluated.