Objective: To summarize our preliminary clinical experience of ultrasound-guided needle-perc combined with standard percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in the treatment of staghorn stones, and to analyze its safety and efficacy. Methods: The clinical data of 65 patients with staghorn stones treated by ultrasound-guided needle-perc combined with standard PCNL under general anesthesia with the patient in prone position from December 2017 to June 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 41 males and 24 females were included. The mean age was (53.5+ 8.9) years. The mean body mass index (BMI) was (25.1±2.9) kg/m², and the mean stone diameter was (10.9±3.1) cm. Among them, there were 3 cases with bilateral staghorn stones, 38 cases with complete staghorn calculi, 36 cases with non- or mild preoperative hydronephrosis, 12 cases with previous ipsilateral renal surgery, and 9 cases with solitary kidneys. Ultrasound-guided renal access and tract dilation were used to establish F24 standard channel. Pneumatic combined with ultrasonic lithotripsy with suction system was used to treat staghorn stones under nephroscope. Needle-perc consists of F4.2 needle-like metal sheath connected with a three-way tube. A 0.6 mm diameter video fiber, 200 um holmium laser fiber and liquid perfusion device can be connected through the three-way tube respectively. The residual stone in the parallel calyx after standard PCNL were punctured by needle-perc under ultrasound guidance, and then the holmium laser fiber was used for lithotripsy. Results: In this study, a total of 68 renal units were included. The median operative time was 79.8 minutes, ranging 45-129 minutes. The median decrease of hemoglobin on postoperative day 1 was 10.6 g/L, ranging 0-25.9 g/L. The median length of postoperative hospital stay was 5.5 days, ranging 4-7 days and the median time of tract establishment was 4.8 minutes, ranging 2.5-9.6 minutes. The median number of standard tract established was 1.5, ranging 1-3 and the median number of needle-perc punctured was 1.0, ranging 1-3. The total complication rate was 10.3% (7 cases), including 5 cases of Clavien grade Ⅰ, 2 cases of postoperative fever, 3 cases of analgesic use. There were 2 cases of Clavien grade Ⅱ. All of them were blood transfusion. The initial stone free rate was 79.4%(54/68). Of the 14 patients with residual stones, 9 patients underwent second-stage operation, 7 patients were stone free, and the final stone free rate was 89.7%(61/68). Conclusions Ultrasound-guided needle-perc combined with standard PCNL is safe and effective in the treatment of staghorn stone.

Objective To explore the safety and efficacy of fusion imaging technique and traditional ultrasound guidance in percutaneous nephrolithotomy,and to compare the difference of two methods for PCNL.Methods Patients with renal calculus,who underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy from January 2016 to August 2016,were enrolled in the study.The patients were randomly divided into two groups by SAS software.The control group was treated with traditional ultrasound guided puncture technique (Ultrasound group).Experimental group was treated with fusion imaging method (CT-US group).Preoperative patient CT image data was uploaded to the image fusion ultrasound machine for data synchronization.Both groups used the same way to establish a standard channel (F24).Lithoclast system from EMS was used to remove stones.Intraoperative parameters (time to define the target calyx,access establishment time,operative duration) and postoperative perioperative data (estimated blood loss,stone-free rate,severe complications) were compared between the two groups.Results 65 cases of patients were enrolled into the study.There was no significant difference in age (P =0.72),body mass index (P =0.78),stone size (P =0.53) and so on.Compared with the control group,the time duration to define the target calyx in CT-US group is significantly decreased in experiment group(50.4 ± 18.1) s vs.(82.1 ± 37.7) s,(P =0.02).The time to establish the access and fulfill the procedure shows no significant difference between the two groups,respectvely(P =0.45,0.61).Also,significant differences can be found in the hemoglobin loss during and after the surgery(1.1 ± 0.5) g/L vs.(1.4 ± 0.4) g/L (P =0.04).The difference in severe complications (Clavien Ⅲ and above),stone-free rate (P =0.60) and transfusion rate (P =1.00) was not significant.Conclusions Our primary study shows CT-altrasound image fusion guide PCNL is a safe and reliable technology.The time duration to define the target calyx was decreased compared with traditional US guidance method.The target calyx chosen was more accurate,with lower blood loss during the perioperative period.

Objective To describe and introduce the initial clinical application of a novel instrument needle-perc for percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in upper urinary tract stones.Methods 24 patients with upper urinary stone treated by PCNL were collected retrospectively between August 2017 and January 2018.Sixteen patients were male and 8 were female.Average age was 41.2 years,ranging 26-65 years.Eight cases had upper pole stones,6 cases had pelvic stones,8 cases had lower pole stones and 4 cases had the stone in UPJ.The mean calculus size was 1.2 cm,ranging 0.5-1.4 cm.All patients were punctured under total ultrasound with needle-perc.Six cases had upper calyceal puncture,10 cases had middle calyceal puncture and 8 cases had lower calyceal puncture.The needle-shaped nephroscope consists of a puncture sheath and a needle handle.The puncture sheath is a hollow metal sheath with an outer diameter of F4.2,an inner diameter of F3.6,and a length of 15 cm.The tip of the sheath is beveled to facilitate puncture.The outer end of sheath is connected to the needle handle through a screw interface.And the three interfaces of the three-way tube can be respectively connected with a liquid irrigation device,a video optical fiber and a 200 μm holmium laser fiber.The needle-perc integrated image system,the irrigation system,and the nephroscope channel are integrated.The tissue passing through the needle can be simultaneously observed through video optical fiber during puncturing.After the tip of the sheath is inserted into the target calyx,the holmium laser fiber is connected for fragmenting or dusting.Results Needle-perc was successful in 22 cases,2 patients were converted to larger tract(F16).The mean opeartive time was 49.2 min,ranging 22-75 min and the mean hemoglobin loss was 5.2 g/L,ranging 0-13.8 g/L.Mean postoperative hospital stay was 3 days,ranging 1 to 6 days.No Double-J stents or nephrostomy tube was placed in the 22 patients.Complications (Clavien Ⅱ) occurred in 4 cases,including fever in 2 cases and renal colic in 2 cases.Plain film of KUB or CT scan was done and stone free rate at 1 month was 90.9％ (20/22),2 patients needed ESWL to remove the residual stones.Conclusions Needle-perc is efficient and safe for small renal stones (size ＜ 1.5 cm) from our initial experience,with high stone-free rate and low complication rate in early follow-up.

Objective To investigate the feasibility of tract dilation monitored by ultrasound in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL),and the risk factors for its failure.Methods A retrospective study was conducted on patients underwent PCNL with only one access (F24) using balloon dilator and sequential dilators (Amplatz and telescopic metal dilators) from December 2014 to December 2018 in Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital.A total of 231 patients (130 males and 101 females) underwent ultrasound-guided PCNL with a mean age of (52.3 ± 9.8) years were included in our study.Mean BMI was (25.8 ± 3.1) kg/m2.Mean size of stone was (3.9 ± 1.1)cm,51.1％ (118/231) of which were staghorn stones.Under ultrasound guidance,after puncture of the target calyx,the balloon dilator was advanced through the guide wire,and inflated to establish the F24 standard renal access.Patients' clinical parameters such as age,gender,BMI,stone diameter,history of open nephrolithotomy were collected.Risk factors for the failure of ultrasound guided balloon dilation were analyzed by logistic regression analysis.Results Tract dilation succeed in 89.2 ％ cases (206 succeed,25 failed) at first attempt.Median tract dilation time was 4.2 min (2.2-8.0 min).Mean operation time was 85.5 min(45.0-120.0 min).Median hemoglobin drop at the first postoperative day was 16.0 g/L (5.0-25.8 g/L).The total rate of complication was 9.1％ (21 cases),including 18 cases Clavien Ⅰ and 3 cases Clavien Ⅱ.The stone free rate was 89.6％ (207/231).Logistic regression analysis revealed that lower pole access (P =0.014) was a risk factor for the failure of access establishment,while the presence of hydronephrosis of target calyx (P ＜ 0.001) would significantly increase the success rate.Conclusions Tract dilation using balloon catheter can be safely monitored by ultrasound with high success rate and low complication rate.Lower pole puncture will make tract establishment difficulty.Patients with a hydronephrotic target calyx are more suitable for this procedure.

Objective:To summarize the preliminary clinical experience of endoscopic treatment of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma, and to analyze its indications and efficacy.Methods:The clinical data of 14 patients underwent endoscopic treatment for upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma in our hospital from December 2014 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, there were 5 males and 9 females, with a median age of 75.5(44-84) years. There were 11 patients with hematuria, 2 patients with flank pain and one asymptomatic patient. Five patients had a history of bladder cancer and one had a history of contralateral UTUC. There were 4 patients with solitary kidney, 3 patients with renal insufficiency, 1 patient with bilateral renal pelvis carcinoma, 4 patients prohibitory to nephroureterectomy because of poor general condition (American Society of Anesthesiologists score ≥3), and 2 patients were pathologically diagnosed as low-grade non-invasive urothelial carcinoma and requested renal preservation therapy. A total of 15 renal units included. The main tumor sites were renal pelvis in 6 renal units, upper calyx in 4 renal units, middle calyx in 3 renal units, and lower calyx in 2 renal units. The median tumor diameter was 2.0 (0.8-4.0) cm. All patients were diagnosed with urothelial carcinoma by preoperative computed tomography (CT/CTU), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cytological or pathological biopsy. In 13 patients, ultrasond-guided percutaneous renal access and tract dilation were performed to establish a F24 standard tract. The tumor tissues were vaporized by 1470 semiconductor laser (60-80 W) or thulium laser (15-20 W) under nephroscopy, and electrocoagulation was used to coagulate the bleeding when necessary. Two patients were treated with felxible ureteroscope, under which tumor ablation was performed with 200 μm holmium laser fiber, and neodymium laser was used for hemostasis. The range of tumor vaporization ablation included 0.5-1.0 cm normal renal pelvis mucosa around the tumor, deep to the fatty layer of renal sinus. Biopsy was taken again at the base of the wound after vaporization ablation when necessary.Results:In this study, six sites were pathological high grade, 9 sites were pathological low grade tumors. Eight were in pathological T a stage, 5 in T 1 stage, and 2 in T 2 stage. The median blood loss was 20.0 (2-50) ml. There were 5 postoperative complications, including one patient with fever (body temperature >38.5℃) and 4 patients with hemorrhage requiring blood transfusion (postoperative hemoglobin <70 g/L) with 2-4 U suspended red blood cells.No patient underwent embolization. The median follow-up time were 31(11-70)months. Ten patients experienced recurrence, and the median time to recurrence was 11.3 (4-41) months. Four of them received conservative treatment after recurrence, including immunotherapy and radiotherapy in 1 patient, systemic chemotherapy in 1 patient, and watchful waiting in 2 patients. Three of them received repeated endoscopic treatment after recurrence, including 2 patients with percutaneous nephroscopic laser ablation and 1 patient with transurethral resection of bladder tumor, all of them survived during the follow-up period. Three patients underwent full-length nephroureterectomy after recurrence, 2 died and 1 survived during the follow-up period. Six patients eventually died, and the median time of death after surgery was 21(9-33) months. Five of them died from tumor-specific death and one died from gastric perforation. The median tumor-free survival interval were11 (4-41) months during the follow-up period. The 2-year tumor-specific survival rate was 78.6%, 50% for high-grade patients and 100% for low-grade patients. Conclusions:In patients who were in early stage (≤T 2) and intolerant to the nephroureterectomy, or with solitary kidney, renal insufficiency, or bilateral tumors, endoscopic treatment could be used as an alternative treatment approach for upper urinary tract epithelial carcinoma, especially for low-grade non-invasive patients.