Urology Flashcards
What is an epidymal cyst?
-Most common cause of scrotal swelling seen in primary care
What are the features of an epididymal cyst?
- Lump
- Separate from the body of the testicle
- Found posterior to the testical
Which conditions are associated with epididymal cysts?
- PCKD
- CF
- Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome
How is epididymal cysts diagnosed?
-USS
How is an epididymal cyst managed?
- Supportive therapy
- Surgical removal or sclerotherapy for larger symptomatic cysts
What is a hydrocele?
-Abnormal collection of fluid between the 2 layers of the tunica vaginalis
What are the causes of hydroceles?
- Non-communicating/simple hydrocele: Overproduction of fluid within the tunica vaginalis
- Communicating hydrocele: processus vaginalis fails to close allowing peritoneal fluid to communicate with scrotal portion
- Hydrocele of the cord: processus vaginalis closes segmentally, trapping fluid with the spermatic cord
Which conditions may hydroveles develop secondary to?
- Epididymo-orchitis
- Testicular torsion
- Testicular tumours
- Trauma
- Generalised oedema
How do hydroceles present?
- Scrotal enlargement with a soft non-tender swelling
- Painless
- Lies anterior to and below the testes
- Transluminates with pen torch
- Testes can be difficult to palpate if hydrocele is large
Investigations for hydroceles?
- Simple: none
- USS
- Duplex sonography
- Serum alpha fetoprotein and HCG levels to exclude malignant teratomas
Treatment for hydroceles?
-Many of infancy resolve spontaneously before 2years
-Conservative approach depending on severity in adults
>Exclusion of malignancy
-Scrotal support
-Therapeutic aspiration
-Surgical removal (in some cases)
What is a varicocele?
- Anbnormal dilatation of testicular veins in the pampiniform venous plexus, caused by venous reflux
- Usually asymptomatic but associated with infertility
What is an important cause of varicocele that must be excluded?
-Renal cell carcinoma
Causes of varicoceles?
- Reflux (from renal vein->testicular veins:Usually the left)
- Vein incompetence
- Swollen testicles could be caused by kidney cancer
Why does varicoceles usually occur on the left?
- Left testicular vein drains into the left renal vein. Increased chance of becoming obstructed.
- Right testicular vein drains in the the IVC
What is the epidemiology of a varicocele?
- Unusual in boys under 10
- Incidence increases after puberty
- Cause of infertility
Clinical presentation of a varicocele?
- Usually asymptomatic
- Scrotum described as feeling like a ‘bag of worms’
- Scrotal heaviness
- Incidentally when having infertility investigations
- Lower scrotum on varicocele side
Investigations and varicoceles?
- Sperm count
- US colour doppler studies
- Venography, CT
- Serum FSH, LH and LHRH (relate to sperm production)
What is the treatment for varicoceles?
-Surgical repair when there is pain, possible infertility consequences and possible testicular atrophy
What are the main differential diagnoses for scrotal swelling?
- Inguinal hernia
- Testicular tumour
- Acute epididymo-orchitis
- Epididymal cysts
- Hydrocele
- Testicular torsion
- Varicocele
Define testicular torsion?
-Twisting of the spermatic cord resulting in testicular iscahemia and necrosis
Aetiology of testicular torsion?
- Occlusion of the testicular blood vessels
- Usually following sport or physical activity
Pathophysiology of testicular torsion
- Blood vessel occlusion leads to ischaemia of the testicle
- Acute inflammation causes pain and swelling to try and block the occlusion
Epidemiology of testicular torsion?
- Mainly affects males between 10-30 (commonly 13-15)
- Can occur in new borns
- Most likely left side affected
- Bilateral cases are rare
Clinical presentation of testicular torsion?
- Acute swelling of the scrotum
- Pain: sudden and severe
- Lower abdo pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Reddening of scrotal skin
- Swollen tender testes (retracting upwards)
- Cremasteric reflex lost
Investigations for testicular torsion?
- Urinalysis to exclude infection
- Doppler USS: shows reduced blood flow
Treatment for testicular torsion?
- Surgery (within 6 hours to keep the testicle)
- if torted tesis -> both testes should be fixed to treat bell clapper testis (bilateral)
What is BPH?
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia
- Enlarged prostate gland without malignancy
- Common in older men
What is the cause of BPH?
-May be due to failure of apoptosis but cause is unknown
What are the risk factors for BPH?
- Increasing age
- Ethnicity: black men > white men > asian men
Which zone of the prostate gland does BPH occur in?
-Transitional zone
>hyperplasia of both glandular and connective tissue elements within the gland
How does BPH present?
-LUTS
>Voiding symptoms (obstructive): weak/intermittent urinary flow, straining, hesitancy, terminal dribbling, incomplete emptying
>Storage symptoms (irritative): urgency, frequency, urgency incontinence, nocturia
>Post micturition: dribbling
>Complications: UTI, retention, obstructive uropathy
Investigations ofr BPH?
- PR: smooth enlarged prostate
- U&Es and renal USS
- Rule out malignancy
- Serum PSA
What is the treatment for BPH?
- Watchful waiting
- Alpha blockers
- 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors
- Urethral or suprapubic catheterisation
- Prostatectomy/TURP
What are some example alpha blockers/a1 receptor antagonists? How do they work?
- Tamsulosin
- Alfuzosin
- Relax smooth muscle in the bladder neck and prostate
What are some examples of 5 alpha reductase inhibitors and how do they work?
- Finasteride
- Blocks conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (cause of prostate growth)
- Can slow disease progression
What are the adverse effects of alpha 1 antagonists ie tamsulosin?
- Dizziness
- Postural hypotension
- Dry mouth
- Depression
What are the adverse effects of 5 alpha reductase inhibitors?
- Erectile dysfunction
- Reduced labido
- Ejaculation problems
- Gynaecomastia
What are some complications of BPH?
- Symptom progression leading to bladder obstruction or progression to malignancy
- Infections
- Stones
- Haematuria
- Acute retention
- Chronic retention
- Interactive obstructive uropathy
What is the most common type of bladder cancer?
-Transitional cell carcinomas
What are the risk factors for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder?
- Smoking
- Exposure to aniline dyes in the printing/textile industry
- Rubber manufacture
- Cyclophosphamide
- Pelvic irradiation
What are the risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder?
- Schistosomiasis
- BCG treatment
- Smoking
What is the link between schistosomiasis and bladder cancer?
-Schistosomiasis = parasite that causes chronic inflammation of the UT
>leads to SCC
>20 year lag
What layers form the bladder wall?
- Transitional epithelium
- Lamina propria
- Submucosa
- Detrusor muscle
- Adventitia
What is the epidemiology of bladder cancer?
- 50% worldwide: schistosomiasis
- 50% UK: smoking
What are the 2 categories of LUTS?
- Storage symptoms
- Voiding symptoms
What are storage symptoms?
- Frequency
- Urgency
- Incontinence
- Painful micturition or reduced bladder senstation
- Nocturia
What are examples of Voiding symptoms
- Intermittent stream
- Hesitancy
- Straining
- Dribbling
- Feeling of incomplete emptying
What are red flags of LUTS?
- Haematuria
- Dysuria
What is the clinical presentation of bladder cancer?
- Painless haematuria
- Recurrent UTIs
- Voiding irritability
- LUTS
- Dysuria
- Abdo pain
- Weight loss/bone pain
Investigations for bladder cancer?
- Urine dipstick (non-visible haematuria)
- Blood tests (FBC, U&E, LFTs)
- Flexible cystoscopy with biopsy
- Ct urogram: provides staging
What is the treatment for bladder cancer in situ (non muscle invasive bladder ca)?
-Resection +/- intravesicle chemo
>Mitomycin and BCG vaccine
How is localised bladder cancer managed?
-Depends on pts fitness
>Radical surgery: cyctectomy +/- prostatectomy +/- urethrectomy +/- neoadjuvant chemo
>Radical radiotherapy if not fit/unwilling to have cystectomy
How do you treat locally advance bladder cancer?
- Radical surgery +/- chemo
- Radical radiotherapy
How do you treat metastatic bladder cancer?
- Combination chemo
- Poor survival
- Urinary diversion for severe symptoms if unfit for radical surgery. Create urostomy
What is the 2WW criteria for suspected urological malignancy?
-PSA above normal levels
>45 with any:
-Unexplained visible haematuria without UTI
-Persistent visible haematuria after treatment of UTI
>60 with any:
-Unexplained non-visible haematuria with either,
>raised WCC, dysuria
What is the role of the prostate gland?
-Produces seminal fluid that nourishes the sperm
>Production of fluid is triggered by
dihydrotestoerone
-Located below male bladder and surrounds the urethra
What zone of the prostate is affected by malignant cancer?
-Peripheral zone
(compared to BPH affecting the transitional zone)
-Presents later than BPH because peripheral zone is further away from the urethra
What type of cancer is most commonly found in the prostate?
- Adenocarcinoma
- Usually multifocal
Why should prostate cancer be considered as 2 different diseases?
- Localised and advanced disease
- Both have different symptoms, outcomes and treatments
What are causes/risk factors for prostate cancer?
- Age
- Obesity
- Afro-caribbean ethnicity
- Family history
- Mutations in androgen receptor genes
What is the epidemiology of prostate cancer?
- Disease of the elderly
- Most men die with prostate cancer rather than from it
What is the most common presenting complaint for prostate cancer?
-Can be asymptomatic or mimic BPH
>increased frequency, nocturia, urinary hesitancy, post-void dribbling
-Pain (back, perineal, testicular)
-Haematuria or haematospermia
What are the non-urinary symptoms of prostate cancer?
-Non-specific: weight loss, anorexia, fever, anaemia
-Hypercalcaemia: due to bone mets causing increased bone breakdwon: anorexia, thirst, confusion, collapse
-Marrow replacement: purpura, anaemia, immune suppression
-Paraneoplastic:
>Cushing’s
>Dementia
>Peripheral neuropathy
>Erythrocytosis
>Acanthosis nigricans
Which lymph nodes does prostate cancer metastasise to initially?
- Obturator nodes
- Also commonly spreads to bone
What are the investigations for prostate cancer?
- PSA
- Prostate specific membrane antigen
- Urine test for PCA3
- Transrectal ultrasound scan
- Prostate biopsy
- MRI/CT and bone scanning
What is considered normal for the upper limit of PSA?
Age: 50-59 = 3ng/ml
Age: 60-69 = 4ng/ml
Age: 70+ = 5ng/ml
When should someone be referred due to a raised PSA?
-Men aged: 50-69 with PSA >3 or abnormal DRE
What are some causes of false +ve raised PSA?
- Prostatitis
- UTI
- BPH
- Vigorous DRE
- Vigorous exercise
- Ejaculation
- Urinary retention
- Instrumentation of the Urinary tract
How must a PSA test be timed in order to obtain an accurate result?
- 6 weeks following prostate bipsy
- 4 weeks following proven UTI
- 1 month following prostatitis
- 1 week following DRE
- 48hrs post vigorous exercise/ejaculation
What is the most important physical examination to perform in someone with ?prostate cancer?
-DRE >Asymmetrical >hard >Nodular enlargement (craggy) >loss of median sulcus
Which grading system is used for grading prostate cancer?
-Gleason grading system
What is the treatment for localised prostate cancer?
- Radical prostatecomy + radiotherapy
- Focal therapy (high intensity USS)
- Watchful waiting in the elderly, multiple co-morbidities
What is the difference between watchful waiting and active surveillance?
- Watchful waiting: less invasive form of monitoring. Treatment is guided by symptoms
- Active surveillance: follow up for physical examinations, measurement of PSA level and treatment depends on those factors
What are the risks for radical prostatectomy?
- Incontinence
- Sexual dysfunction
Arguements for radical treatment of localised prostate cancer?
- Curative
- Prostate cancer cells killed
- Reduces pt anxiety
Arguements against radical surgery for localised prostate cancer?
- Disease of the elderly
- Cause of death
- Adverse effects of Rx
Arguments for screening for prostate cancer?
- Commonest cancer in men
- Men die from it
Arguments against prostate cancer
- Uncertain natural history
- Morbidity of treatment
- False +ves
- Pts can be treated when they’d never develop symptoms
How do you treat locally advanced prostate cancer?
- Radiotherapy +/- radical prostatectomy
- Brachytherapy (radiotherapy inserted into prostate using device)
What are some complications of radiotherapy for prostate?
- Bowel cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Increased frequency of urination
- Fibrosis
- Urethral strictures
- Skin changes/inflammation
How is metastatic prostate cancer treated?
-Androgen deprivation essential
>surgical castration or medical castration if pt refuses surgery
>stops action of dihydrotestosterone
What is surgical castration?
-Removal of testes to get rid of testosterone level to reduce symptoms and improve survival
Explain how medical castration works?
-GNRH analogues
>-ve feedback on testosterone
-LH antagnoists (block testosterone production from Leydig cells)
-Peripheral androgen receptor antagnosists
What are some examples of GNRH analogues?
- Buserelin
- Goserelin (Zoladex)
- Lueprorelin
- Triptorelin
Which medication should be co-prescribed for someone starting on a GNRH analogue?
-Anti-androgen treatment ie cyproterone
>used to reduce the risk of tumour flare
>start cyproterone 3/7 before GNRH
What is castration-resistant prostate cancer and how is it treated?
-Disease continues to progress despite castration
>abiraterone =2nd line hormonal therapy
>cytotoxic chemotherapy: docetaxel, carbazitaxel
-Bisphosphonates to protect bones
What is the main complication of TURP?
-Transurethral resection of the prostate syndrome
>Venous destruction and absorption of the irrigation fluid occurs
What are the risk factors of TURP syndrome?
-Surgical time >1hr
-Height of bag >70cm
-Resected >60g
-Large blood loss
>Perforation of the bladder
>Large amount of fluid used
-Poorly controlled CHF
What are the features of TURP syndrome?
-Early features: restless, headache, tachypnoea, burning sensation in face and hands
-Greater severity features:
>resp distress, hypoxia, pulmonary oedema
>N+V
>visual disturbance
>Confusion
>Haemolysis
>Acute renal failure
What investigations should be done for TURP?
- Hyponatraemia (from the large volume of fluid absorbed)
- Metabolic acidosis
How is TURP syndrome managed?
- ABCDE + resus +02
- Fluid overload management
Which cells in the testicles produce a) testosterone, b) sperm
a) Leydig cells in the presence of LH
b) sertoli cells
What are the causes of testicular cancer?
- Unknown (majority of cases)
- Larger risk factors in those with undescended testicles
- FH
- Genetic factors: chromosome 12 abnormalities
What are the risk factors for testicular cancer?
- For teratomas and seminomas (25-35years)
- Cryptorchidism (undescended testes)
- Infertility
- Family hx
- Klinefelter’s syndrome
- Mumps orchitis
What are the main types of cancer in the testicles?
-Mainly arise from the germ cells: Seminomas, teratomas
What is the epidemiology of testicular cancer?
-Most common cancer in young men
How does testicular cancer present?
- Painless lump
- Testicular +/- abdo pain
- Dragging sensation in the testicles
- Hydrocele
- Gynaecomastia from B-HCG production
- Mets in lungs: cough/dyspnoea
- Mets in para-aortic lymph nodes: back pain
Investigations for testicular cancer?
-USS: helps differentiate between masses in the testes and other intra-scrotal
swellings
-Serum conc. of tumour markers: alpha fetoprotein, Beta-HCG
-Tumour staging with CT CAP
Treatment of testicular cancer?
- Orchidectomy
- Radiotherapy (seminomas mets below the diaphragm)
- Chemotherapy (widespread tumours from teratoma mets)
- Sperm banking
Define urinary tract infection?
-Inflammatory response of the urothelium to bacterial invasion usually associated with bacteriuria and pyuria
How can UTIs be classified?
- Upper vs lower
- Clinical risk ie uncomplicated vs complicated
- Timing: single/isolated vs unresolved, acute vs chronic
What are the 5 main pathogens responsible for causing UTIs seen in primary care?
- E. coli
- Coagulation negative staph species (ie staph epidermidis)
- Proteus spp. (gram -ve bacillus)
- Enterococci (gram +ve cocci)
- Klebsiella species (gram -ve bacillus)
What kind of urinary tract abnormalities encourage bladder infections?
- Urinary obstruction or stasis
- Previous damage to the bladder epithelium ie previous infections
- Bladder stones
- Poor bladder emptying ie neuro problems
Describe the most common pathway to a UTI?
-Colonic flora exists naturally
-Which colonise the vagina and then the urethral meatus
-Ascent of bacteria up the urethra = bacteriuria
=UTI