Optical coherence tomography is a promising, minimally invasive tool for real-time intraoperative optical diagnosis of tumors in the upper urinary tract. Our results warrant future research in a larger sample size to determine the accuracy of grading and staging by optical coherence tomography, and its possible implementation in the diagnostic algorithm for upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma.

This report describes optical coherence tomography as a real-time, intraoperatively diagnostic modality in the diagnostic evaluation of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. We confirmed the ability of optical coherence tomography to visualize, grade and stage urothelial carcinoma in the upper urinary tract.

NBI, SPIES, and PDD aim at improving visualization of UUT-UC through contrast enhancement. OCT and CLE aim at providing real-time predictions of histopathological diagnosis. For all techniques, more research has to be conducted before these techniques can be implemented in the routine management of UUT-UC. All techniques might be of value in specific clinical scenarios and allow for integration, for example, OCT with NBI, and could therefore improve tumor detection and staging and help in selecting the optimal treatment for the individual patient.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) in a cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes, truly asymptomatic for coronary artery disease (CAD), using heart rate variability (HRV) and 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-mIBG) myocardial scintigraphy.MethodsThe study group comprised 88 patients with type 2 diabetes prospectively recruited from an outpatient diabetes clinic. In all patients myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, CAN by HRV and 123I-mIBG myocardial scintigraphy were performed. Two or more abnormal tests were defined as CAN-positive (ECG-based CAN) and one or fewer as CAN-negative. CAN assessed by 123I-mIBG scintigraphy was defined as abnormal if the heart-to-mediastinum ratio was <1.8, the washout rate was >25%, or the total defect score was >13.ResultsThe prevalence of CAN in patients asymptomatic for CAD with type 2 diabetes and normal myocardial perfusion assessed by HRV and 123I-mIBG scintigraphy was respectively, 27% and 58%. Furthermore, in almost half of patients with normal HRV, 123I-mIBG scintigraphy showed CAN.ConclusionThe current study revealed a high prevalence of CAN in patients with type 2 diabetes. Secondly, disagreement between HRV and 123I-mIBG scintigraphy for the assessment of CAN was observed.

A significant number of patients with intermediate- or high-risk bladder cancer treated with intravesical Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy are non-responders to this treatment. Since we cannot predict in which patients BCG therapy will fail, markers for responders are needed. UroVysion® is a multitarget fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) test for bladder cancer detection. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether FISH can be used to early identify recurrence during treatment with BCG. In a multicenter, prospective study, three bladder washouts at different time points during treatment (t 0 = week 0, pre-BCG, t 1 = 6 weeks following TURB, t 2 = 3 months following TURB) were collected for FISH from patients with bladder cancer treated with BCG between 2008 and 2013. Data on bladder cancer recurrence and duration of BCG maintenance therapy were recorded. Thirty-six (31.6%) out of 114 patients developed a recurrence after a median of 6 months (range 2–32). No significant association was found between a positive FISH test at t 0 or t 1 and risk of recurrence (p = 0.79 and p = 0.29). A positive t 2 FISH test was associated with a higher risk of recurrence (p = 0.001). Patients with a positive FISH test 3 months following TURB had a 4.0–4.6 times greater risk of developing a recurrence compared to patients with a negative FISH. Patients with a positive FISH test 3 months following TURB and induction BCG therapy have a higher risk of developing tumor recurrence. FISH can therefore be a useful additional tool for physicians when determining a treatment strategy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12032-017-1033-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bladder carcinoma is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract. Approximately 75-85% of patients present with a disease that is confined to the mucosa (stage Ta, carcinoma in situ) or submucosa (stage T1). The stratification of patients to low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups represents the cornerstone for the indication of adjuvant and follow-up treatment. Owing to the high recurrence rate of bladder tumors, a surveillance protocol is recommended to all patients. Currently, the combination of cystoscopy, imaging and urinary cytology represent the follow-up. A systematic review of the recent English literature on follow-up procedures of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer is performed. The authors review the existing follow-up procedures, with a focus on novel molecular-targeted approaches. At the present time, the additional use and utility of urine-based molecular markers in the follow-up of patients remains unclear and we have to rely on cystoscopic evaluation adapted to risk group classification.

Introduction With catheter based optical coherence tomography (OCT), high resolution images of the upper urinary tract can be obtained, thereby facilitating the detection of upper tract urothelial carcinomas (UTUC). We hypothesized that the attenuation coefficient of the OCT signal (μOCT) is related to the histopathologic grade of the tumor. Objectives In this study, we aimed to define the μOCT cut‐off for discriminating high grade and low grade papillary UTUC. Methods For this post‐hoc analysis, data from OCT imaging of papillary UTUC was obtained from patients during ureterorenoscopy. OCT images and raw data were simultaneously analyzed with in‐house developed software. The μOCT determined in papillary UTUCs and corresponding histopathologic grading from either biopsies or radical resection specimens were compared. Results Thirty‐five papillary UTUC from 35 patients were included. μOCT analysis was feasible in all cases. The median μOCT was 3.3 mm−1 (IQR 2.7–3.7 mm−1) for low‐grade UTUC and 4.9 mm−1 (IQR 4.3–6.1 mm−1) for high‐grade UTUC (P = 0.004). ROC analysis yielded a μOCT cut‐off value of >4.0 mm−1 (AUC = 0.85, P < 0.001) with a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 94% for high‐grade papillary UTUC. Conclusions This study proposes a μOCT cut‐off of 4.0 mm−1 for quantitative grading of UTUC with ureterorenoscopic OCT imaging. The promising diagnostic accuracy calculations justify further studies to validate the proposed cut‐off value. Implementation of the software for the μOCT analysis in OCT systems may allow for μOCT assessment at real time during ureterorenoscopy. Lasers Surg. Med. 51:399–406, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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