Wassilios Bentas

The purpose of our study was to examine the nature and incidence of renal injuries during organ procurement, to identify risk factors and to analyse the effects of organ lesions on the following transplantation. All cadaveric kidney transplantations performed at our centre from 1996 to 2006 with an organ donated within the Eurotransplant (ET) region were retrospectively analysed. Five hundred and sixty-three renal grafts procured in 62 centres throughout the ET region were transplanted in the analysed period. One hundred and twenty (21.3%) kidneys were inadequately procured with 143 errors in total. The frequency of procurement errors did not differ significantly between kidneys procured by urologists and general surgeons (19.2% vs. 24.6%) nor when kidneys were procured alone or together with pancreas and/or liver (19.3% vs. 22.0%). Inadequate procurement lead to a discard rate of 0.2% and ultimately resulted in a surgical complication rate of 3.4%. Primary graft function (75.8% vs. 78.6%), three-yr graft survival (76.6% vs. 82.4%) and cumulated long-term graft survival were not significantly influenced by procurement errors. Additional measures to improve procurement quality are necessary. Nevertheless, adequate repair of organ lesions is possible and most organs can be successfully transplanted with very good short- and long-term results.

Background. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the results of the Eurotransplant Senior Programme (ESP) within our centre compared to elderly recipients ≥60 years from the regular Eurotransplant Kidney Allocation System (ETKAS), specifically focusing on surgical aspects.

Organverletzungen im Rahmen der Organentnahme werden von vielen Transplantationszentren zunehmend als Problem empfunden, wobei publizierte Daten kaum vorliegen. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, die Qualität der Leichennierenentnahme in Deutschland zu untersuchen.

In experienced hands, laparoscopic pyeloplasty is an effective alternative treatment for symptomatic ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO). Although laparoscopic surgery can clearly benefit patients, laparoscopic pyeloplasty using conventional instrumentation is complex. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the feasibility of robot assisted laparoscopic surgery. Eleven pyeloplasties for UPJO were performed via a laparoscopic transperitoneal approach exclusively with the da Vinci Surgical System. The mean procedure time was 197 min (range 110–310 min). All operations were completed laparoscopically with no intraoperative complications and negligible blood loss. All patients recovered rapidly after surgery with excellent functional results at the 1 year follow-up. Our initial experience suggests that robot assisted Anderson-Hynes pyeloplasty is a safe and effective alternative to conventional laparoscopic surgery. In our opinion, robot assisted surgery will allow urologists to perform complex procedures with greater precision, confidence, and better results, as well as enable them to adapt the whole spectrum of laparoscopic procedures to their field.

The potential role of angiogenesis stimulators in the pathogenesis of different tumor entities has been confirmed in several studies. We measured the serum levels of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) in 51 patients with testicular germ cell tumors and in 39 healthy volunteers. Serum concentrations of bFGF, VEGF and PDGF-AB were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The median serum bFGF level for tumor patients was 3.46 pg/ml (range 0–61.6) compared to 0.7 pg/ml (0–11) in the control group (PPP<0.05). Our data suggest that angiogenesis, as reflected by serum concentrations of bFGF, VEGF and PDGF, plays a functional role in the growth and progression of testicular germ cell tumors.

Background and Purpose: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is considered the standard method for removal of benign adrenal tumors. Although laparoscopic surgery provides clear patient benefit, laparoscopic adrenalectomy using conventional instrumentation is complex. Our objective was to evaluate whether the da Vinci™ Surgical System, a comprehensive robotic endoscopic surgical device, could be used effectively to perform laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Patients and Methods: Through a transperitoneal approach, three right and one left adrenal tumors were removed in four patients using this method. Results: There were no complications, and the clinical results were excellent. Conclusion: We demonstrate the feasibility of performing laparoscopic adrenalectomy exclusively by using robotic telepresent technology from a remote workstation. The da Vinci System enables conventionally trained urologic surgeons to perform complex minimally invasive procedures with ease and precision. Therefore, we are convinced that the system helps the urologist to adapt the whole spectrum of laparoscopic procedure in this field.