title: [Laparoscopic renal cryotherapy: preliminary experience].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Renal cryotherapy has been described as a minimally invasive procedure that represents an alternative for selected patients with small renal tumors. Our preliminary experience with this procedure is reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  [corrected] Eighteen patients with 21 tumors with a mean tumor size of 2.2 cm (1-4) in the preoperative CT scan underwent renal cryotherapy using a double freeze-thaw cycle. The group consisted of 14 males (64%) and 4 females (18% with a mean age of 68 years (32-84). All patients had undergone prior surgery for renal tumor in the treated or the opposite kidney. A transperitoneal laparoscopic approach was used in all patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean operating time was 196 minutes (120-140), and no patient received transfusions during or after surgery. No complications occurred in 14 patients (64%). Perirenal abscess, splenic laceration, ureteral lesion, and polar artery lesion occurred in one patient each. Peroperative biopsy was performed in 5 patients (22.7%) and was positive for renal cancer in two cases, while material was insufficient in three patients. Mean hospital stay was 6 days (2-16). Creatinine levels were 106 mg% (48-230) before surgery and 123 mg/% (52-270) 6 months after surgery. A CT scan was performed in all patients one and six months after surgery, showing a residual enhancement area in two of them. Sixteen patients (88.8%) are disease-free after a mean follow-up time of 46 months (6-116). Metastatic disease occurred in two patients (11%) in the setting of a prior renal tumor in the same or the opposite kidney and required treatment with antiangiogenic agents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the largest series reporting renal cryosurgery in Spain, in complex cases and with adequate follow-up. Results are encouraging and allow for considering renal cryotherapy among the minimally invasive procedures for nephron-sparing surgery.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Urología Oncológica, Servicio de Urología, Fundació Puigvert, Barcelona, España. orodriguez@fundacio-puigvert.es
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Faba
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosales Bordes
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salvador Bayarri
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palou Redorta
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Tagle Philips
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cordeiro
authors.forename: Humberto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Villavicencio Mavrich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017679:Cryotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged