Objective: The reference treatment for filling defects of the upper urinary tract is nephroureterectomy with excision of a perimeatal bladder segment. The authors evaluated the role of endoscopy and laser in the management of filling defects of the upper urinary tract.
Material and methods: Filling defects of the upper urinary tract were evaluated by biopsies performed during ureteroscopy followed by 10 Watt Holmium-YAG laser vaporisation. High-grade or incompletely vaporised tumours or multifocal tumours or tumours more than 2 cm in diameter received complementary treatment. Low-grade and completely vaporised tumours were followed by ureteroscopy at 3 months and then every 6 months. The authors conducted a prospective study from March 2002 to September 2004. Fifteen consecutive patients were managed according to this protocol. The mean age was 70 years (range: 53 to 85 years). Thirty nine tumours were treated. The mean tumour diameter was 1.05 cm (range: 0.3 to 2.5 cm).
Results: In this series of 15 patients treated according to this protocol, 39 tumours were diagnosed and treated. The grade was determined by biopsy in 66% of cases. Seven patients have a median recurrence-free survival of 18 months (range: 12 to 34 months). Overall, conservative management was able to be performed in twelve patients, corresponding to a 22-month kidney preservation rate of 80%. Two patients died during follow-up, one from prostatic cancer and the other from invasive urothelial bladder tumour. One patient who had had recurrence ans had been re-treated was lost for report.
Conclusion: Filling defects of the upper urinary tract can be investigated by ureteroscopy to obtain a histological diagnosis and to perform treatment by laser vaporisation. Complementary treatment is then performed depending on the histological results, either by complementary vaporisation or by nephroureterectomy. Laser treatment ensures a high kidney preservation rate but with a recurrence risk. Conservative endoscopic treatment, which is considered to be acceptable in cases of necessity, may also be useful in the context of small, unifocal, minimally invasive tumours with a normal contralateral kidney.