A Robot-Assisted Complete Urinary Tract Extirpation in a Patient with Simultaneous Panurothelial Carcinoma: A Case Report.

Background

Despite concomitant bladder and upper urinary tract cancers are present in 17% of cases, the simultaneous affection of the urethra, bladder, and both upper urinary tracts is extremely rare. Treatment decisions in this setting could be challenging because of the lack of evidence in the literature. Case Presentation: A 65-year-old Caucasian man with a history of nine low-grade (LG) and multifocal bladder tumor recurrences during the past 4 years is referred to our department with a newly diagnosed panurothelial carcinoma involving the bladder, urethra, and both upper urinary tracts. Because of the large and recurrent LG bladder tumor, the urethral involvement and the presence of bilateral pyelocaliceal tumors >4 cm the patient underwent a robot-assisted complete urinary tract extirpation (CUTE). Operating time was 360 minutes and blood loss 460 mL. No intraoperative complications were reported and blood transfusion was not required. The patient developed a surgical site infection in the glans that was solved with antibiotics without any other postoperative complication. He started renal replacement therapy and was discharged 6 days after the surgery. Pathologic analysis showed multifocal urothelial carcinomas; pTa LG involving the bladder and the prostatic-bulbar-membranous-penile urethra, pT3 high grade (HG) in right renal pelvis, pT1 HG in left renal pelvis, and pN0 in pelvic lymph node dissection. After a reasonable free-recurrence period of time the patient could be evaluated for a robot-assisted intracorporeal urinary diversion in preparation for a later renal transplantation.

Conclusion

Robot-assisted CUTE could be a feasible and safe technique for selected patients with simultaneous panurothelial carcinoma. Further multicentric studies are warranted to determine the safety of this minimally invasive approach in patients with different comorbidities.