Objective To investigate the safety and efficiency of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) for totally intrarenal tumors (TITs).Methods Thirty-eight patients who underwent RAPN for treating TITs by one experienced surgeon were included between August 2012 and December 2017.There were 25 males and 13 females,aged 26-72 years(mean 51.6 years).Tumors of 24 cases were in right kidney,and 14 cases in left kidney.The diameter of tumor was(3.12 ± 0.92) cm,the R.E.N.A.L.score was(9.76 ± 1.00),and the Scr was (74.82 ± 20.32) μmol/L.Patients' peri-operative and oncological outcomes were analyzed.Results All the tumors were successfully resected without conversion to open surgery or radical nephrectomy.Mean operative time and ischemia time were (188.47 ± 46.75) min and (24.32 ± 7.69) min.Mean blood loss was (115.79 ± 43.66) rrd.One-week postoperative Scr was (85.97 ± 28.33) μmol/L.Postoperative hemorrhage was successfully treated by DSA or drug therapy in 3 patients.The pathological examination showed 28 clear cell renal cell carcinomas,3 chromophobe renal cell carcinomas,3 TFE-3 infusion related renal cell carcinomas,2 metanephric adenomas,1 acidophile adenoma and 2 angioleiomyolipomas.One positive surgical margin occurred in RAPN group for cystic components.No evidence of tumor progression observed during follow-up.Conclusions RAPN is safe and effective in treating TITs when performed by an experienced surgeon at a high-volume institution.Further prospective and large-scale study was warranted to evaluate the long-term outcomes.

Objective To compare the perioperative parameters and renal function in patients,whose aged was 65 year-old or above,with clinical T1-2 renal tumors undergoing partial nephrectomy (PN) or radical nephrectomy (RN).Methods A retrospective review of 469 patients,who underwent RN and PN in our center,was conducted from January 2012 to November 2018,icluding 247 in the RN group and 222 in the PN group.The RN group consisted of 170 male and 77 female patients,with the mean age of (70.96 ± 5.21) year-old.126 cases were found that the tumor located on the fight side,with the median diameter of (4.93 ± 2.03) cm.The median BMI,median R.E.N.A.L.score and pre-operation eGFR of the RN group were (24.4 ± 3.1) kg/m2,8.39 ± 1.45) and (80.23 ± 15.14) ml/(min · 1.73 m2),respectively.The PN group consisted of 150 male and 72 female patients,with the mean age of (70.23 ± 4.62) years old.108 patients had tumors on the left side while 114 on the right side,with the median diameter of (3.17 ± 1.41) cm.The median BMI,median R.E.N.A.L score and pre-operation eGFR of the PN group were (23.5 ± 3.2) kg/m2,(6.69 ± 1.81) and (82.83 ± 14.36) ml/(min · 1.73m2),respectively.No statistical difference was noticed in the age,gender,tumor location and BMI between RN group and PN group(P ＞ 0.05).The PN group had smaller tumors and lower R.E.N.A.L.scores than the RN group (P ＜ 0.05).Various parameters were compared between the PN and RN groups,including operative duration,surgical procedure,intraoperative blood loss,perioperative blood transfusion,drainage tube removal time,postoperative duration of hospitalization,pathological results,the renal function immediately after surgery and at 1 month,1 year,2 years,3 years,4 years,5 years after surgery,and the incidence of chronic renal dysfunction.Results Significant differences were found in multiple variables between the two cohorts,such as operative duration [(115.70 ± 39.69) min in RN vs.(132.26 ± 49.02) min in PN],estimated intraoperative blood loss [(45.85 ± 55.93) days in RN vs.(66.60 ± 61.55) ml in PN],drainage tube removal time [(4.38 ± 1.71) days in RN vs.(4.86 ± 1.61) days in PN],duration of postoperative hospitalization [(5.14 ± 1.65) days in RN vs.(5.52 ± 1.32) days in PN] (P ＜ 0.05).Furthermore,higher proportion of RCC was detected in the RN cohort (93.5％ in RN vs.86.5 ％ in PN,P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in perioperative blood transfusion rate between the two cohorts (10.93％ vs.9.01％,P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the RN cohort,the PN cohort had higher eGFR immediately after surgery [(74.08 ± 18.31) ml/(min · 1.73m2) vs.(52.58 ± 14.21) ml/(min · 1.73m2)],1 month after surgery [(76.11 ± 18.34) ml/(min · 1.73m2) vs.(53.78 ± 15.03)ml/(min · 1.73m2)] and at the last follow-up [(73.92 ± 18.59) ml/(min · 1.73m2) vs.(52.35 ± 16.13) ml/(min · 1.73m2)] (P ＜ 0.001).Compared with those of the RN cohort,the incidences of eGFR ＜ 45 ml/(min · 1.73m2) of the PN cohort were lower immediately after surgery [9.01％ (20/222) vs.31.9％ (79/247)],1 month after surgery [7.87％ (14/178) vs.27.31％ (62/227)],1 year after surgery [8.96％ (13/145) vs.38.75％ (62/16 0)],2 years after surgery [9.89％ (9/91) vs.31.57％ (42/133)],3 years after surgery [13.21％ (7/53) vs.30.61％ (30/98)],4 years after surgery [16.21％ (6/37) vs.30.26％ (23/76)] and 5 years after surgery [18.18％ (4/22) vs.31.11％ (14/45)] (P ＜ 0.001).Conclusion The perioperative risk of PN in the treatment of elderly patients aged 65 and above with clinical cT1-2 renal tumor is controllable.PN could better retain renal function for those patients and reduce the risk of postoperative chronic renal insufficiency.

Objective To compare the operative-postoperative outcomes of laparoscopic and robotassisted partial nephrectomy (LPN and RAPN) for patients with T1 b renal masses.Methods A total of 169 T1 b renal mass patients receiving LPN (n =69) or RAPN (n =100) in our center between October 2009 and October 2017 were retrospectively collected.There were 46 males and 23 females in LPN group,with a mean age of (55.0 ± 11.9) years.The mean tumor size was (5.09 ± 0.76) cm,and mean R.E.N.A.L score was 6.36 ± 1.53.49 procedures (71％) were performed via a retroperitoneal approach in LPN group.There were 59 males and 41 females in RAPN group with a mean age of (52.9 ± 11.7) years.The mean tumor size was(4.95 ±0.66) cm,and mean R.E.N.A.L score was 8.17 ± 1.50.31 procedures (31％)were performed via a retroperitoneal approach in RAPN group.There was statistical significance between two groups in R.E.N.A.L score and surgery approach (P ＜ 0.001).The group covariates were balanced through propensity score matching (PSM) using 1∶ 1 nearest neighbor matching method.After PSM,operating time,estimated blood loss,warm ischemia time,incidence of complications,hospital stay and postoperative follow-up status were compared between LPN(n =36)and RAPN(n =36)group.Results After PSM,patient distributions were closely balanced.In the LPN vs the RAPN group,there were significant different in warm ischemia time [(23.9 ± 7.3) min vs.(20.4 ± 6.7) min,P ＜ 0.05],estimated blood loss [(136.9 ± 80.2) ml vs.(136.9 ± 80.2) ml,P ＜ 0.05],incidence of complications (8.7％ vs.1.0％,P ＜0.05),and hospital stay [(11.5 ±3.8)d vs.(9.8 ± 1.80)d].There was no significant differences resulted regarding operating time [(164.5 ± 64.4) min vs.(169.0 ± 42.5) min,P ＞ 0.05],variation of estimated glomerular filtration rate from baseline [(9.97 ± 8.98)％ vs.(9.27 ± 9.19)％,P ＞ 0.05],positive surgical margin rate (1.4％ vs.0,P ＞ 0.05) and rate of recurrence or metastasis (1.4％ vs.1.4％,P ＞ 0.05) between groups.Conclusion Considering operative,functional and oncologic outcomes,both RAPN and LPN performed by an experienced surgeon were acceptable for patients with T1b renal masses.If available,robotic approach may reduce operative trauma and complications.

Objective:To investigate the factors related to the prognosis of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma after bone metastasectomy and to provide a reference for the clinical treatment of renal cell carcinoma.Methods:The clinical data of 143 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma in our center from January 2008 to December 2018 were retrospectively collected. Among 143 patients, 121 were male and 22 were female, with the average age of (54.8±12.5) year-old(from 18 to 85 year-old). The KPS scores of 138 patients were no higher than 80%. According to International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium (IMDC) risk model for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, the patients were divided into intermediate risk group (92 patients) and poor risk group (51 patients). The patients who had received complete resection for both primary lesion and metastatic tumor were regarded as tumor-free (47 patients). Otherwise, the patients with unresectable primary tumor or incomplete resection of the metastatic tumor were defined as the patients surviving conversely bone metastases were the only metastatic site, and the other 57 patients also experienced concomitant metastases comparatively. Sixty-two patients only had solitary bone metastasis lesion and 81 patients had multiple bone metastases. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to calculate the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival rate. The impacts of different variables on the prognosis were examined by log-rank test. Univariate analysis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to identify the independent risk factors.Results:The median follow-up time was 49.0 months. The overall survival was 1-115 months, with the median OS was 24.0 months. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival rate were 79.2%, 59.4% and 31.6%, respectively. All the patients underwent bone metastasectomy and 72 of them were treated with targeted therapy. The pathology results of metastasectomy were clear cell carcinoma for 132 patients and non-clear cell carcinoma for the 11 patients. In tumor-free group, the median OS was 30.0 months and in survival with tumor group, the median OS was 19.4 months, with a significant difference between the two groups ( P=0.030). In IMDC intermediate risk group, the prognosis was improved among the patients who received post-surgical targeted therapy after metastasectomy (24.3 months vs. 16.8 months, P=0.027), whereas the difference was not significant for IMDC poor risk group ( P=0.449). Age ≥60 years and multiple bone metastases sites were proved to be the independent risk factors for the prognosis of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma after bone metastasectomy. Conclusions:The prognosis of RCC patients with bone metastases was generally poor. Metastasectomy could prolong the OS of the patients who had undergone primary nephrectomy and had solitary bone metastasis. Metastasectomy combined with targeted therapy could significantly improve the prognosis of the IMDC intermediate risk patients. However, the effect of targeted therapy among IMDC poor risk patients remained to be further proved.

OBJECTIVETo observe the expression change of mitophagy-related proteins in skeletal muscle in rats with spleen deficiency syndrome and to explain the partial action mechanism of acupuncture at Zusanli (ST 36) for spleen deficiency syndrome.

METHODSForty male SD rats, after normal feeding, were randomly divided into a normal group, a spleen deficiency group, a Zusanli group and a non-acupoint group, ten rats in each group. Except the normal group, the three factors modeling method was used for 14 days to establish the model of spleen deficiency syndrome on the other 3 groups. The rats in the Zusanli group were treated with EA at bilateral "Zusanli" (ST 36), while the rats in the non-acupoint group were treated with EA at bilateral non acupoint (dense-sparse wave, frequency of 2 Hz/100 Hz, 20 min per treatment, once a day for 10 days). The rats in the normal group and spleen deficiency group were treated with immobilization for 20 min per day, and no EA was given. The HPLC method was applied to measure the content of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) in skeletal muscle. The Western blotting method was applied to measure the expression of adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK), p-AMPK, ULK1, p-ULK1，LC3-Ⅰand LC3-Ⅱ in skeletal muscle.

RESULTSThe ATP content in the spleen deficiency group was significantly lower than that in the normal group (<0.01); the ATP content in the Zusanli group was significantly higher than that in the spleen deficiency group (<0.05) but lower than that in the normal group (<0.05), there was no significant difference between the non-acupoint group and the spleen deficiency group (>0.05). Compared with the normal group, the AMP/ATP in the spleen deficiency group and the Zusanli group were significantly up-regulated (<0.01, <0.05). The differences of p-AMPK/AMPK between the spleen deficiency group and the normal group was not significant (>0.05). Compared with the normal group and spleen deficiency group, the p-AMPK/AMPK in the Zusanli group was significantly up-regulated (both <0.05). The p-ULK1/ULK1 and LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰin the Zusanli group was higher than those in the normal group and spleen deficiency group (all <0.01).

CONCLUSIONEA at "Zusanli" (ST 36) might activate AMPK and produce stable ULK1/AMPK compound and increase the mitochondrial autophagy, which could regulate spleen-stomach and treat spleen deficiency.