High performance of 5‐aminolevulinic acid‐induced fluorescent selective upper tract urinary cytology

Objectives To investigate the efficacy of selective upper tract urinary cytology using extracorporeal 5‐aminolevulinic acid for the diagnosis of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma. Methods We evaluated 104 patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy and were diagnosed pathologically as having upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma between March 2013 and May 2019 in Osaka Rosai Hospital. Preoperatively, we collected upper tract urinary cytology from both sides, and compared the sensitivity and specificity between conventional urine cytology and 5‐aminolevulinic acid‐induced fluorescent urine cytology. Results The sensitivity of 5‐aminolevulinic acid‐induced fluorescent selective upper tract urinary cytology was significantly higher than conventional cytology (90.4% vs 66.3%, P