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Author: Hakan Bahadir Haberal, Burak Çitamak, Mesut Altan, Ali Cansu
Bozaci, Taner Ceylan, Hasan Serkan Doğan, Serdar Tekgül
PII: S0090-4295(17)31177-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2017.10.034
Reference: URL 20735
Please cite this article as: Hakan Bahadir Haberal, Burak Çitamak, Mesut Altan, Ali Cansu
Bozaci, Taner Ceylan, Hasan Serkan Doğan, Serdar Tekgül, Positioning the Instillation of
Contrast Cystography: Does It Provide Any Clinical Benefit?, Urology (2017),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2017.10.034.
This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service
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POSITIONING THE INSTILLATION OF CONTRAST CYSTOGRAPHY: DOES IT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: None.
Page 1 of 15
ABSTRACT
Methods: 198 patients underwent PICC with the following indications: patients with
ureteric side, patients with urinary tract infection, and negative VCUG for both
ureteric sides. Patients with positive VCUG served as the control group.
compared.
Results: The reflux rate for the contralateral vesico-ureteric reflux (VUR)
investigation group was 39.1%. Only the cystoscopic view of the anatomically
(p=0.002). For patients who presented with UTI, the reflux rate was 58.3%.
Resolution of infection was assessed for patients who presented with UTI and 54.1%
of them had complete response in the follow-up period. When the patients were
classified as PICC positive and negative, infection free rates were 58.3% and 48%,
respectively (p=0.296).
However, the clinical significance of this finding is vague. In patients with UTI, PICC
was useful for diagnosing occult VUR and clearing the symptoms in more than half of
the patients. Further, the symptom-free state in the follow up period was slightly
higher but not more significant than it was in those with no VUR diagnosed.
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INTRODUCTION
Vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR) is an anatomic and/or a functional disorder that can lead
(VCUG) is the standard diagnostic procedure for the diagnosis of VUR. 1 However,
VUCG does not reveal the expression of occult reflux in patients who had VUR. 2 The
use of positioning the instillation of contrast cystography (PICC) was proposed for
revealing occult reflux.2 In addition to this, PICC is used as an efficient diagnostic tool
in patients with febrile urinary tract infection and in those with negative VCUG in
VUR.3, 4
However, the utility and clinical importance of PICC has been an area of
and PICC results of patients who underwent PICC for different indications, and we
investigated the effect of this method on reflux detection, treatment, and long-term
outcomes in patients.
PICC was performed on 198 patients for various indications between March 2007
and November 2016. The data of these patients were analyzed retrospectively.
The patients with lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) in preoperative period
primarily were treated for this situation, after then the surgical interventions were
applied. In the preoperative period, investigations such as urine analysis and urine
cultures were performed for all patients, and surgical interventions were performed
only during absence of UTI. PICC was performed by using a 9.5F or 11F pediatric
cystoscope in the dorsal lithotomy position. The urethra, bladder neck, and bilateral
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contrast material with gravity, at 100 cm high, using a cystoscope about 1–2 cm in
front each orifice. The occurrence of reflux was determined by the intermittent scopic
image. The bladder was emptied before conducting the procedure for the other ureter
side. According to the PICC result, appropriate surgical treatment was applied to the
patient. In our routine clinical practice, the use of prophylactic antibiotics was
continued for 3-6 months postoperatively. At the end of this time, antibiotic therapy
was stopped and patients were under follow-up without any prophylaxis.
Patients were classified into the following three groups according to PICC indications:
1: Patients with positive preoperative VCUG for single ureteric side (for investigation
The indication groups were compared in terms of gender, operation age, surgical
presence of LUTD for patients older than 5 years old, PICC results, surgical
While assessing the reflux grades in VCUG and PICC, patients with Grade 4–5 reflux
were considered as having “high grade reflux,” and those with Grade 1–3 reflux were
considered as having “low grade reflux.” Presence of any scar in the kidney was
urgency, hesitancy, and wetting with holding maneuvers and constipation was
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regarded as indicative of LUTD. In our study, PICC was performed for patients with at
least one febrile UTI. Thus, those who presented with UTI were categorized in two
complaints and urine culture positivity. Responders were the patients who were free
All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 17.0 program for Windows.
p<0.05 was considered as the statistical significance level. For univariate analysis,
the chi-square test was used for nominal data, the t-test was used for parametric
variables, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for nonparametric variables.
Mean±standard deviation was used for parametric variables while median±range was
RESULTS
The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 84.9±3.6 months and
female:male ratio was 152:46. The mean follow-up period was 28.1±2.1 months. The
Table 1. VUR was detected in 107 patients (54%) and 106 patients (53.5%)
in 27 patients (25.5%). The reflux rates detected with PICC based on renal units have
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Ninety-two patients with unilateral reflux in preoperative VCUG underwent PICC for
(36/92). All detected VURs were of low-grade. STING was performed on 17 patients
was required for four patients with VUR because of three of them had Grade 1 reflux
and one had Grade 2 reflux after PICC. When the factors predicting the contralateral
VUR were examined, only the cystoscopic view of the insufficient ureteral orifice was
preoperative DMSA for the renal unit that underwent contralateral reflux investigation,
LUTD, and VUR grade in the known side in VCUG were not statistically significant
Eighty-four patients with febrile UTI and negative preoperative VCUG underwent
PICC. It revealed a VUR rate of 58.3% (49/84). STING was performed on 94.2% of
these patients, while UNC was performed on 5.8%. Only the cystoscopic view of the
Age, gender, and LUTD were not statistically significant predictors of reflux (p=0.884,
Infection improvement was assessed for patients who presented with UTI. Amongst
patients who presented with UTI, 54.1% of them had complete response. Patients in
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When the patients were classified as PICC positive and negative, the infection free
UTI patients with preoperative negative VCUG and positive DMSA findings:
Forty-nine patients underwent PICC due to febrile UTI, negative VCUG, and existing
renal scars in DMSA. PICC detected VUR in 29 patients (59.2%). STING was
performed on 90.3% of these patients, while UNC was performed on 9.7%. VUR
rates after PICC for the renal units with and without scarring were 44.8% (26/58) and
37.5% (15/40), respectively (p=0.304). Only the cystoscopic view of the insufficient
ureteral orifice was found to have a significant relationship with reflux for the renal
units with scar in preoperative DMSA (p<0.001). Age, gender, and presence of LUTD
were not significantly associated with reflux (p=0.855, p=0.293 and p=0.448,
respectively). Nine patients had bilateral scar on DMSA and VUR was detected in
38.9% of renal units. Within patients with unilateral scar, reflux rates for the scarred
and unscarred renal units in the PICC were 47.5% (19/40) and 37.5% (15/40),
respectively (p=0.249). Totally, VUR was observed in 41 renal units, and only 8
(8.2%) of these were of high grade. Presence of LUTD was not significantly
UTI patients with preoperative negative VCUG and negative DMSA findings:
PICC was performed on 35 patients with febrile UTI but negative VCUG and DMSA.
VUR was detected in 20 patients (57.1%). Further, when the renal units were
evaluated, VUR was detected in 44.3% of the renal units (31/70) and STING was
performed on all renal units with VUR. Only one patient had high grade VUR
according to PICC. The univariate analysis revealed that the cystoscopic view of the
insufficient ureteral orifice and absence of LUTD were associated with VUR (p=0.025
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and p=0.002, respectively). Gender and age at the time of operation were not
the absence of LUTD was associated with VUR in the multivariate analysis (p=0.013,
HR: 0.084).
was detected in all patients (100%) after PICC. After classifying refluxes as low and
high grade, it was observed that PICC was correlated with VCUG for all renal units.
STING was performed on 13 patients (59%), while 9 patients (41%) underwent UNC.
COMMENT
VCUG is the standard diagnostic method for the detection of VUR. 1 This method
grades the extent of VUR and provides anatomical information about the bladder and
urethra.1 In 2003, Rubenstein et al. suggested the use of PICC for detecting occult
reflux in patients with febrile UTI but negative VCUG.2 PICC revealed VUR in all
patients who had negative VCUG preoperatively, and exhibited 91% accuracy in that
study.2 However, Rubenstein et al.’s study did not have data on the renal
scintigraphy status, and it had been evaluated only by ultrasonography. 2 In our study,
we included DMSA status, which provided us the opportunity to evaluate the effect of
It is known that, the new onset contralateral reflux rate for patients with unilateral
reimplantation, Hubert et al. demonstrated that younger age and low observed versus
predicted bladder capacity were the major risk factors for the new onset of
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contralateral reflux in patients treated conservatively for unilateral reflux. 8 They stated
that, the reflux grade in the known side in VCUG was the main factor for the
contralateral side.8 Together, these studies show that PICC is an important test for
detecting occult contralateral VUR and for preventing new onset VUR in VCUG in the
follow-up period.9, 10
However, despite the high VUR rates, most of these
the other hand, Matsumoto et al. performed PICC in patients with unilateral VUR
contralateral side.10 Patients who were detected with contralateral VUR underwent
bilateral ureteral reimplantation. In the follow-up period, for patients with negative
PICC, no VUR was detected by postoperative VCUG. Thus, the use of PICC for this
purpose reduces the need for future recurrent VCUGs to investigate the new onset of
contralateral VUR. In our study, the contralateral VUR rate was 39.1% (36/92) and
only the cystoscopic view of the insufficient ureteral orifice was found as a significant
risk factor. STING was performed on 17 patients (53.1%), while UNC was performed
on 15 patients (46.9%). All refluxes detected in these patients were of low grade.
Surgical procedures performed on the contralateral side were concordant with the
contralateral VUR, this approach decreases the future need of VCUGs and possible
Studies have demonstrated that PICC is an effective method for patients with
pyelonephritis, 52% of the patients had a permanent renal scar with negative
VCUG.12 Berger et al. performed PICC in 154 renal units of 81 patients. 11 VUR rates
for the scarred and unscarred renal units were 86% and 83.8%, respectively, in their
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study. In our study, PICC was performed on 49 patients with febrile UTI who had
negative VCUG and positive DMSA in the 58 renal units. VUR for the renal units with
scar was 44.8% (26/58) and only the cystoscopic view of the insufficient ureteral
orifice was found to be significant. Another interesting finding is that 37.5% of the
unscarred renal units had VUR. Berger et al. suggested a correlation between PICC
grades and DMSA scar severity.11 Nevertheless, when the content of the article is
examined it can be seen that, VUR rates for scarred and unscarred renal units were
fairly close to each other. This outcome is compatible with our findings. Scar in one
renal unit indicates risk of VUR for both renal units. In our study, there was no
statistically significant relationship between the presence of scar in DMSA and reflux
in PICC. It should be considered that VUR can be seen in both kidneys independent
of renal scarring, and therefore, bilateral PICC should be performed for these
patients. PICC is an important diagnostic test for patients with renal scarring in DMSA
and negative VCUG considering that VUR was detected in more than half of these
patients.
The present study was different from other previous studies in that the PICC method
was used for patients with negative DMSA and VCUG. Reflux rates in PICC and
symptom improvement rates could be determined separately for these patients. VUR
was detected in 20 patients (57.1%) and 31 renal units (44.3%) in PICC. There was
characteristics in terms of PICC results. Further, PICC showed VUR in more than half
of the patients with febrile UTI, and negative DMSA and VCUG. Therefore, PICC is
an important diagnostic and treatment method for patients with febrile UTI, owing to
10
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The present study also found that, in patients with UTI, VUR can be detected in more
than half of the patients regardless of their DMSA status. Further, majority of the
high-grade refluxes were observed in the DMSA positive group. The absence of the
relationship between PICC findings and DMSA status may be attributed to the
presence of low grade VUR in most of the patients, indicating that low grade VUR
carries less risk of affecting the upper tract, as shown by Caione et al.13 We also
found DMSA positivity in the non-refluxing unit, and this finding may be a missing part
of the puzzle. Another explanation for the absence of this relationship may be the
regression of an initial high grade VUR affecting the kidney to a lower grade VUR that
VUR can be closely associated with LUTD. We detected a relationship between the
lower urinary tract status and VUR detected by PICC in UTI patients with negative
VCUG and DMSA. However, VUR was detected more often in the PICC in patients
without LUTD (90% vs. 20% for those with LUTD), which shows that the anatomic
The use of PICC in UTI patients with negative VCUG provided infection free status in
54.1% of the patients. However, this infection free rate was no more significant than
that for those with no reflux diagnosed. Thus, while PICC provides diagnostic
advantage, its clinical benefit is not clear yet. It would be interesting to see how
clinical improvement would change if these patients were followed-up without any
intervention. One can argue that an endoscopic examination itself, even without the
to note that an examination performed under general anesthesia does not create
11
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exactly the same physiological conditions. However, like PICC, VCUG is an
The retrospective nature of the present study is the main limitation. Another important
limitation is that the long-term outcomes of the refluxes detected in PICC cannot be
evaluated for some patients because of the lack of long term follow-up data. Owing to
the retrospective nature of the study, some data could not be evaluated for all
patients. Further, LUTD could not be graded properly, and therefore, it was only
CONCLUSION
PICC is an effective diagnostic method for revealing occult VUR that the conventional
VCUG cannot demonstrate. Especially, the utility of PICC for detecting contralateral
VUR for patients with unilateral VUR in VCUG is an important argument. Unilateral
scar represents a risk for bilateral renal units, and VUR in the scarred renal unit is an
important predictor for reflux in the unscarred renal unit. Therefore, bilateral PICC
due to the high VUR rates observed in the unscarred renal units. Further, PICC is a
convenient diagnostic method for detecting occult VUR in patients with febrile UTI,
and negative VCUG and DMSA. However, the clinical significance of this finding is
not remarkable. In patients with UTI symptoms but no reflux on VCUG, PICC has a
value in diagnosing occult VUR and in clearing the symptoms in more than half of the
patients. However, though the symptom-free state in the follow up was slightly higher,
12
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REFERENCES
13
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Table 1. Demographic and surgical characteristics of patients according to different
indications.
14
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Table 3. Factors predicting contralateral reflux in PICC
Positive in Negative in p
PICC PICC
Age, median (range) 79 (2–348) 68.5 (11–134) 0.264
Gender Female 38.8% 61.2% 0.551
Male 40% 60%
Presence of Scar Positive 61.5% 38.5% 0.074
in DMSA* Negative 35.6% 64.4%
Known Side Low 35.6% 64.4% 0.231
Reflux Grade* High 45.5% 54.5%
Lower Urinary Positive 42.9% 57.1% 0.525
Tract Dysfunction* Negative 36.8% 63.2%
Cystoscopic View Insufficiency 76.9% 23.1% 0.002
of Ureteral Orifice* Normal 29.5% 70.5%
*Percentages for available data
DMSA, dimercaptosuccinid acid; PICC, Positioning the Instillation of Contrast
Cystography.
Table 4. Infection improvement rates in patients with urinary tract infection and
negative VCUG.
Non-responders* Responders* p
PICC Positive* 41.7% 58.3% 0.296
PICC Negative* 52% 48%
PICC Positive/DMSA Positive* 50% 50% 0.485
PICC Negative/DMSA Positive* 56.3% 43.7%
PICC Positive/DMSA Negative* 31.2% 68.8% 0.407
PICC Negative/DMSA Negative* 44.4% 55.6%
*Percentages for available data
VCUG, voiding cystourethrogram; PICC, Positioning the Instillation of Contrast
Cystography; UTI, urinary tract infection.
15
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