title: The usefulness of ureterorenoscopic examination in evaluation of upper tract disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the present study was to clarify the indications, usefulness and limitations of ureterorenoscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 1998 to June 2004, 72 consecutive patients (48 men and 24 women) with a mean age of 66 years (range, 27-83 years) underwent ureterorenoscopy to diagnose upper urinary tract tumors (UUT). Median follow-up was 24 months (range, 1-73 months). Patients were divided into four subgroups by voided urine cytology and preoperative radiographic findings. Group A (n=11, 15.3%), positive voided urine cytology and positive preoperative radiographic findings; group B (n=5, 6.9%), positive cytology and negative radiographic findings; group C (n=48, 66.7%), negative cytology and positive radiographic findings and group D (n=8, 11.1%), frank hematuria originating from the UUT but negative cytology and negative radiographic findings. We compared the findings of ureterorenoscopic examination and biopsy with the results of retrograde pyelography and cytology of upper tract urine. For each examination, the following diagnostic indices were assessed: sensitivity, specificity, positive-predictive-value (PPV) and negative-predictive-value (NPV) and accuracy. Statistical analysis was performed using McNemar's test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For ureterorenoscopy, sensitivity was 94%, specificity 59%, PPV 72%, NPV 92% and accuracy 76%. For biopsy, sensitivity was 77%, specificity 100%, PPV 100%, NPV 80% and accuracy 88%. Accuracy of ureterorenoscopy tended to be superior to that of retrograde pyelography. Ureterorenoscopy was most useful in the group which consisted of 48 patients (66.7%) with negative voided urine cytology and positive preoperative radiographic findings. This group was the only group in which accuracy of ureterorenoscopic biopsy was superior to that of urine cytology, significantly (P=0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicated that ureterorenoscopy is most suitable and gives superior accuracy in patients with positive radiographic findings and negative voiding cytology. Ureterorenoscopic biopsy of the upper urinary tract would provide useful information when considering therapeutic strategies, such as nephron-sparing management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Toyofusa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tobe
authors.forename: Shuuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamijima
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naya
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020709:Ureteroscopes; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery