Percutaneous therapy of low stage and grade urothelial neoplasia: long-term follow up.

Nephroureterectomy with the excision of the ipsilateral ureteral orifice and bladder cuff has been considered the standard treatment of the urinary upper transitional cell carcinoma. With the advent of sophisticated techniques for the endo-urologic management of many benign urologic diseases of the upper tract, there has been growing enthusiasm for the application of these same techniques in the management of upper tract TCC, which is also supported by recent advances in the development of small calibre telescopes with improved optics and the development of small calibre adjunctive instruments and laser fibers. A large number of cases published in the literature has confirmed the safety and efficacy of percutaneous treatment in selected patients with upper tract TCC of low grade and stage. Between 1997 and 2005 we treated 62 pts (37 pelvic transitional cell carcinoma and 25 ureteral). 4 pts (5 renal units: 4 T1G2 and 1 TaG1) underwent percutaneous resection for a tumor in a solitary kidney (2 cases), one case for bilateral neoplasm, and in the other case the lesion was unilateral with chronic renal failure. After preoperative evaluation, (excretory urography, computerized tomography and ureteroscopy with biopsy to confirm the low stage and grade of the lesion) the tumor was resected using an Amplatz sheat of 26-30 Fr and a 24 Fr resectoscope to keep a low intra-caliceal pressure. The tumor base was biopsied and fulgurated After 48 h, contrastography to assure integrity of the urinary system was performed and Mitomycin C was infused over 24 h. Second-look nephroscopy with multiple biopsies was performed in all cases 7 days later and 8 Ch nephrostomy was placed. If the biopsies resulted negative the patient was submitted to 6 weekly endocavitary instillation of BCG through the nephrostomy tube. All pts at a mean follow up of 71 months were tumor free. One patient presented a bladder relapse after 83 months. No complication of percutaneous resection was observed. The endocavitary instillations were well tolerated. In our experience the percutaneous approach is safe and useful in neoplastic lesions of low grade and stage and should be considered as first line therapy in selected patients. Adjuvant topical therapy appears efficacious and some complications may be avoided by maintaining low intracavitary pressures during administration.