The influence of 3D renal reconstruction on surgical planning for complex renal tumors: An interactive case-based survey

ABSTRACT Objectives To evaluate the role of three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction in preoperative planning for complex renal tumors. Materials and Methods A well-planned questionnaire was distributed among the attending urologists at an international meeting. The questionnaire inquired about demographic data, surgical experience, partial nephrectomy (PN) versus radical nephrectomy (RN), surgical approach, time of ischemia, probability of postoperative urine leakage and positive surgical margins after viewing computed tomography (CT) scans and their respective 3D models of six complex renal tumors. Following the CT scans, attendees were asked to view randomly selected reconstructions of the cases. Results One hundred expert urologists participated in the study; 61% were aged between 40 and 60 years. Most of them (74%) were consultants. The overall likelihood of PN after viewing the 3D reconstructions significantly increased (7.1±2.7 vs. 8.0±2.2, p