About

Anthony J. Schaeffer is a pediatric urologist specializing in diagnosing, managing, and repairing congenital birth defects and acquired conditions involving the urinary and reproductive systems in children from pregnancy to 18 years. He performs surgeries on the adrenal glands, kidneys, ureters, bladder, urethra, penis, testicles, and the inguinal canal. His clinical expertise includes conditions such as hydronephrosis due to UPJ or UVJ obstruction, kidney stones, urinary incontinence, UTIs, vesico-ureteral reflux, neurogenic bladder, cryptorchidism, inguinal hernia, hydrocele, and penile curvature. Dr. Schaeffer has extensive training from leading experts in complex urinary reconstruction, which has fostered a strong interest in repairing complex genital and urinary birth defects, including disorders of sexual differentiation, hypospadias, epispadias, bladder exstrophy, and neurogenic bladder. He emphasizes research to improve care outcomes, reduce costs, and increase access for patients. His dedication to patient care is reflected in high patient satisfaction ratings, and he is recognized for his thorough, compassionate, and expert approach to pediatric urology.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Urology
• Computer Science
• Pathology
• Surgery
• Library science
• Immunology
• Pediatrics
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Ureteroscopy vs Shockwave Lithotripsy to Remove Kidney Stones in Children and Adolescents

  JAMA Network Open · 2025-08-07 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Importance: Most children and adolescents with kidney and ureteral stones are treated with ureteroscopy, despite the uncertainty and equal weight of guideline recommendations for ureteroscopy or shockwave lithotripsy. Objective: To compare stone clearance and patient-reported outcomes among children and adolescents after ureteroscopy or shockwave lithotripsy. Design, Setting, and Participants: This nonrandomized clinical trial enrolled patients between March 16, 2020, and July 31, 2023, at 31 medical centers in the US and Canada. Patients aged 8 to 21 years with kidney stones, ureteral stones, or both were included. Follow-up was completed on October 15, 2023. Interventions: Ureteroscopy or shockwave lithotripsy. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was stone clearance assessed by standardized ultrasonography 6 (±2) weeks after surgery. Using inverse probability weighting and random intercepts for site, stone clearance was evaluated per kidney or ureter using logistic regression and estimated stone clearance rates were generated for each procedure. Results: This study included 1142 patients (690 females [60.4%]), with a median age of 15.6 years (IQR, 12.6-17.3 years). In terms of race and ethnicity, 41 patients (3.6%) were Black, 130 (11.4%) were Hispanic, and 884 (77.4%) were White. A total of 124 urologists treated 1069 and 197 kidneys or ureters with ureteroscopy and shockwave lithotripsy (n = 953 and n = 189 patients), respectively, with a median stone size of 6.0 mm (IQR, 4.0-9.0 mm). Ureteral stents were placed at time of index surgery for 841 procedures for 767 patients (80.4%) receiving ureteroscopy and for 6 procedures for 5 patients (2.6%) receiving shockwave lithotripsy. Stone clearance occurred in 474 patients who underwent ureteroscopy (71.2% [95% CI, 63.8%-78.5%]) and in 105 patients who underwent shockwave lithotripsy (67.5% [95% CI, 61.0%-74.1%]), a difference that was not statistically significant (risk difference, 3.6% [95% CI, -6.2% to 13.5%]). Compared with shockwave lithotripsy, ureteroscopy resulted in greater pain interference (T-score difference, 5.0 [95% CI, 2.3-7.8]) and urinary symptoms (symptom score difference, 3.9 [95% CI, 1.2-6.7]) 1 week after surgery. Patients who had ureteroscopy missed more school (risk difference, 21.3% [95% CI, 9.7%-32.8%]) and caregivers missed more work (risk difference, 23.0% [95% CI, 11.0%-35.0%]) in the week after surgery. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study of 1142 children and adolescents with kidney and ureteral stones, there was no clinically meaningful difference in stone clearance with ureteroscopy vs shockwave lithotripsy. Shockwave lithotripsy was associated with better patient-reported outcomes. These findings raise questions about the preference for ureteroscopy in practice. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04285658.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• P-1562. Epidemiology, Management, and Outcomes of a Novel Complex Urologic Infections Interdisciplinary Clinic

  Open Forum Infectious Diseases · 2025-01-29

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Background Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infections, yet patients with recurrent infection are often not offered effective preventative therapies, patients with bacterial persistence may have a urologic nidus of infection, and patients with non-infectious syndromes are often over-treated with antibiotics. Methods We developed a Complex Urologic Infections Interdisciplinary Clinic comprised of infectious diseases and urology physicians as well as antimicrobial stewardship pharmacists. We categorized patients as complicated (defined as abnormal urinary tract predisposing to infection) or uncomplicated and describe the first 237 patients seen 16 months after clinic initiation. Results Most of our patients were female (69%) and white (67%) with a mean age of 61 and a mean Charlson score of 3.3 (Table 1). Most (58%) had complicated urologic tracts with overall higher Charlson comorbidity scores. Based on a standardized clinical classification system, most presented with recurrent/reinfection (38%), but we also identified patients with isolated and intermittent infection, bacterial persistence, and non-infectious syndromes (Table 2). We started 75/89 (84%) patients with recurrent infections on prevention therapy, and 14 declined. Vaginal estrogen or methenamine monotherapy had an efficacy of 57% and 70% at a mean follow up of 4.2 and 4.6 months, respectively (Figure 1). All five patients on vaginal estrogen plus continuous prophylaxis were UTI free at a mean follow up of 5 months. We identified 20 patients with urinary bacterial persistence, ordered imaging of the urologic tract, and identified an infected urologic nidus and cured or suppressed the infection in 95%. Thirty-two percent of patients referred for UTI were found to have non-infectious syndromes, including asymptomatic bacteriuria (19%) and lower urinary tract symptoms (10%) (Figure 2). Multi-drug resistant organisms were found in 25%, 30% of which were in patients with non-infectious syndromes. Conclusion Complex Urologic Infections Interdisciplinary Clinics can provide expertise to prevent recurrent UTIs, identify a urologic nidus of infection in patients with persistence, and potentially reduce antimicrobial burden and resistance in patients without true infection. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The PKIDS Study: Comparative Effectiveness of Surgical Interventions for Pediatric Patients With Kidney Stones

  2025-06-02

  report
  PublisherDOI

• Is Delayed Primary Bladder Exstrophy Closure the New Norm? An Analysis of the Epic Cosmos Database

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Is Delayed Primary Bladder Exstrophy Closure the New Norm? An Analysis of the Epic Cosmos Database

  Urology · 2025-07-23

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Randomized trial of transperineal versus transrectal prostate biopsy to prevent infection complications.

  Journal of Clinical Oncology · 2024-01-29 · 1 citations

  article

  261 Background: Transrectal prostate biopsy is the predominant approach to prostate cancer detection in the U.S. and worldwide. The transperineal approach is traditionally preformed under general anesthesia. Recent advances enable prostate biopsy to be performed through the skin of the perineum (transperineal) under local anesthesia. There are potential advantages to this clean, percutaneous approach over the inherently contaminated transrectal approach. However, comparative evidence is limited. Methods: In a multicenter, randomized trial, we used two-stage consent and assigned participants with suspicion for prostate cancer to undergo transperineal biopsy without antibiotic prophylaxis vs. transrectal biopsy with targeted prophylaxis. The primary outcome was post-biopsy infection, with secondary outcomes of urinary retention, significant bleeding, cancer detection, and a numerical rating scale (0-10) for biopsy-related pain and discomfort during 7-days post-biopsy. Results: Six-hundred fifty-eight participants underwent randomization, and 567 (86%) of participants were included in the intent to treat analysis. Seventy-nine men declined to participate. There were zero transperineal versus 4 (1.4%) transrectal biopsy infections (adjusted difference -1.4%; 95% confidence interval -3.2, 0.3; P=0.059). Rates of other complications were very low and similar by approach. Importantly, detection of clinically significant cancer was similar (53% transperineal vs. 50% transrectal, adjusted difference 2.0%; 95% CI -6.0, 10; p=0.6). Participants undergoing transperineal biopsy experienced worse periprocedural pain (0.6 adjusted difference [0-10 scale] 95% CI 0.2, 0.9; P=0.002), but the effect was small and resolved by 7-days. Conclusions: Office-based transperineal biopsy is tolerable, does not compromise cancer detection and likely reduces the risk of infection without antibiotic prophylaxis, thereby improving antibiotic stewardship. Altogether, our findings support office based transperineal prostate biopsy without antibiotic prophylaxis as the new standard of care for prostate cancer detection with per patient and population-based antibiotic stewardship and healthcare cost benefits. Finally, two-stage consent facilitates accrual for surgical randomized trials, as evidenced by the relatively low rate of participants declining and withdrawing from the trial. Clinical trial information: NCT04815876 .

  PublisherDOI

• P2-09 COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF URETEROSCOPY AND SHOCKWAVE LITHOTRIPSY FOR CHILDREN WITH NEPHROLITHIASIS: RESULTS OF A MULTICENTER PROSPECTIVE CLINICAL TRIAL

  The Journal of Urology · 2024-05-01 · 1 citations

  article

  You have accessJournal of UrologyParadigm-shifting, Practice-changing Clinical Trials in Urology (P2)1 May 2024P2-09 COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF URETEROSCOPY AND SHOCKWAVE LITHOTRIPSY FOR CHILDREN WITH NEPHROLITHIASIS: RESULTS OF A MULTICENTER PROSPECTIVE CLINICAL TRIAL Carmen Tong, Renea Sturm, Kyle Rove, Puneeta Ramachandra, Aaron Krill, Pasquale Casale, Pamela Ellsworth, Andrew Stec, Christopher Bayne, David Chu, Caleb Nelson, Douglas Coplen, William DeFoor, Christina Ching, Abby Taylor, Bruce Schlomer, Nicolette Janzen, Eric Nelson, Nicolas Fernandez, Pankaj Dangle, Kate Kraft, Bhalaajee Meenakshi-Sundaram, Michael Chua, Wayland Wu, Scott Sparks, Campbell Grant, Anthony Schaeffer, Justin Ziemba, Ryan Hsi, Rebecca D. McCune, Jing Karchin, Brian Augelli, Kimberley Dickinson, Susan Back, Michelle Denburg, Christopher Forrest, Matt Lorenzo, Krystal Bagley, Antoine Selman-Fermin, Jing Huang, Xianqun Luan, Zi Wang, Rosemary Labaree, Carrie Matson, Anna Kurth, Laura Kurth, Hunter Beck, Annabelle Pleskoff, Ruth Beck, Jonathan Ellison, and Gregory E. Tasian Carmen TongCarmen Tong , Renea SturmRenea Sturm , Kyle RoveKyle Rove , Puneeta RamachandraPuneeta Ramachandra , Aaron KrillAaron Krill , Pasquale CasalePasquale Casale , Pamela EllsworthPamela Ellsworth , Andrew StecAndrew Stec , Christopher BayneChristopher Bayne , David ChuDavid Chu , Caleb NelsonCaleb Nelson , Douglas CoplenDouglas Coplen , William DeFoorWilliam DeFoor , Christina ChingChristina Ching , Abby TaylorAbby Taylor , Bruce SchlomerBruce Schlomer , Nicolette JanzenNicolette Janzen , Eric NelsonEric Nelson , Nicolas FernandezNicolas Fernandez , Pankaj DanglePankaj Dangle , Kate KraftKate Kraft , Bhalaajee Meenakshi-SundaramBhalaajee Meenakshi-Sundaram , Michael ChuaMichael Chua , Wayland WuWayland Wu , Scott SparksScott Sparks , Campbell GrantCampbell Grant , Anthony SchaefferAnthony Schaeffer , Justin ZiembaJustin Ziemba , Ryan HsiRyan Hsi , Rebecca D. McCuneRebecca D. McCune , Jing KarchinJing Karchin , Brian AugelliBrian Augelli , Kimberley DickinsonKimberley Dickinson , Susan BackSusan Back , Michelle DenburgMichelle Denburg , Christopher ForrestChristopher Forrest , Matt LorenzoMatt Lorenzo , Krystal BagleyKrystal Bagley , Antoine Selman-FerminAntoine Selman-Fermin , Jing HuangJing Huang , Xianqun LuanXianqun Luan , Zi WangZi Wang , Rosemary LabareeRosemary Labaree , Carrie MatsonCarrie Matson , Anna KurthAnna Kurth , Laura KurthLaura Kurth , Hunter BeckHunter Beck , Annabelle PleskoffAnnabelle Pleskoff , Ruth BeckRuth Beck , Jonathan EllisonJonathan Ellison , and Gregory E. TasianGregory E. Tasian View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/01.JU.0001015816.87470.c9.09AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract BACKGROUND: AUA and EAU guidelines recommend ureteroscopy (URS) or shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) for pediatric patients with kidney stones <20 mm and for ureteral stones based on low-level evidence for stone clearance and no evidence on patient reported outcomes (PROs). Despite equal weight of the recommendations, 80% of children have URS for these stones. METHODS: The Pediatric KIDney Stone (PKIDS) Care Improvement Network embedded a prospective observational trial of patients aged 8-21 years in clinical care at 30 medical centers in North America from 2020-2023 to compare URS and SWL for kidney and ureteral stones. The primary outcome was stone clearance assessed by ultrasound 6 (±2) weeks after surgery considering heterogeneity of treatment effect (HTE) by a priori categories of stone size (<7 mm, 7-10 mm, 10-15 mm, and >15 mm) and location (ureter/UPJ, non-lower pole kidney, and lower pole kidney). Secondary outcomes were PROs measured by PROMIS and urinary symptom scores at 1, 3, 6 and 12 weeks after surgery, assessing HTE by age and sex. Stone clearance and PROs were compared using generalized linear models and ANCOVA, respectively, weighted with inverse propensity scores to balance patient, surgeon, and institutional characteristics across groups. RESULTS: Among 1142 patients (median age of 15.6 years; 690 were female (60%); 884 were White (77%), 41 were Black (4%), 130 were Hispanic (11%), 1070 and 197 kidneys with a median stone size of 6 mm (IQR 4, 9) were treated with SWL performed by 125 urologists. For all stone sizes, stone clearance was 74.5% for URS (95% CI, 65.7 to 83.3) and 68.6% for SWL (95% CI, 59.7 to 77.7), which was not statistically different (risk difference 5.9; 95% CI -6.6 to 18.5). Compared to URS, SWL resulted in less pain intensity, pain interference, and urinary symptoms one week after surgery, adjusting for pre-operative symptoms (Table). There were no differences between treatments for any PROs from 3 weeks until the last survey 3 months after surgery. In HTE analyses, there were no differences in stone clearance by size or location. Stone clearance could not be compared for stones >15 mm as only 3 patients had SWL for these stones. Patients aged 18-21 years treated with URS had worse urinary symptoms one week after surgery than younger patients. There were no sex differences in PROs between treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Among pediatric patients with kidney and ureteral stones, SWL resulted in similar stone clearance and better lived experiences than URS. These findings support SWL for children and adolescents with small to medium sized urinary stones. Source of Funding: This work was supported through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Project Program Award (CER-2018C3-14778) © 2024 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 211Issue 5S2May 2024Page: e6 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2024 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.Metrics Author Information Carmen Tong More articles by this author Renea Sturm More articles by this author Kyle Rove More articles by this author Puneeta Ramachandra More articles by this author Aaron Krill More articles by this author Pasquale Casale More articles by this author Pamela Ellsworth More articles by this author Andrew Stec More articles by this author Christopher Bayne More articles by this author David Chu More articles by this author Caleb Nelson More articles by this author Douglas Coplen More articles by this author William DeFoor More articles by this author Christina Ching More articles by this author Abby Taylor More articles by this author Bruce Schlomer More articles by this author Nicolette Janzen More articles by this author Eric Nelson More articles by this author Nicolas Fernandez More articles by this author Pankaj Dangle More articles by this author Kate Kraft More articles by this author Bhalaajee Meenakshi-Sundaram More articles by this author Michael Chua More articles by this author Wayland Wu More articles by this author Scott Sparks More articles by this author Campbell Grant More articles by this author Anthony Schaeffer More articles by this author Justin Ziemba More articles by this author Ryan Hsi More articles by this author Rebecca D. McCune More articles by this author Jing Karchin More articles by this author Brian Augelli More articles by this author Kimberley Dickinson More articles by this author Susan Back More articles by this author Michelle Denburg More articles by this author Christopher Forrest More articles by this author Matt Lorenzo More articles by this author Krystal Bagley More articles by this author Antoine Selman-Fermin More articles by this author Jing Huang More articles by this author Xianqun Luan More articles by this author Zi Wang More articles by this author Rosemary Labaree More articles by this author Carrie Matson More articles by this author Anna Kurth More articles by this author Laura Kurth More articles by this author Hunter Beck More articles by this author Annabelle Pleskoff More articles by this author Ruth Beck More articles by this author Jonathan Ellison More articles by this author Gregory E. Tasian More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...

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• (124) SUBFERTILITY RISK IN MALE SIBLINGS OF PEDIATRIC BILATERAL INGUINAL SURGERY PATIENTS

  The Journal of Sexual Medicine · 2024-08-12

  article

  Abstract Introduction Cryptorchidism, a condition linked to male infertility, often presents with bilateral undescended testicles in about 10% of cases. While surgery aims to preserve fertility, genetic predispositions to sub-fertility among brothers of those who had pediatric bilateral inguinal surgery remain under explored. Objective In this study, we compared fertility outcomes between males who had bilateral inguinal surgery for hernias or undescended testes and their brothers, hypothesizing a higher sub-fertility risk among brothers of pediatric bilateral orchiopexy patients. Methods A statewide database that combines demographic, medical, and residential data for over 90% of the state's pediatric population was used. Our cohort were patients who underwent B/L IHR or BO prior to age 18, and their brothers born within 10 years of the B/L IHR or BO cases. A logistic regression model with clustering on family was performed to assess the likelihood for male siblings to develop male factor infertility controlling for time in Utah since 1996, infertility in the spouse, or unidentified partner data. A mixed-effect Poisson regression with the same parameters was used to assess the number of children in each group. Results 1019 B/L IHR siblings (627 cases), 360 BO siblings (221 cases), were identified from 1996-2022. The BO sibling cohort was majority white (93.6%), non-Hispanic (74.5%), and 32.5% of the cohort had at least 1 child. Regression analysis revealed brothers of BO patients had a higher likelihood of infertility (2.2% vs. 0.4% IHR-brother, P = 0.004) and their odds of infertility trended towards a higher likelihood (HR = 0.73, [0.3-2.0], P = 0.5) when compared to B/L IHR-brother (HR = 0.2, [0.1-0.6], P = 0.004). While not statistically significant for the BO cohort, this would suggest a trend towards a genetic association. Conclusions BO shows a genetic influence on sub-fertility, with increased infertility diagnoses among male siblings versus B/L IHR. Conversely, male siblings of B/L IHR patients exhibit significantly lower infertility rates, suggesting surgery-related factors predominate in adulthood infertility diagnoses post-pediatric B/L IHR. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: StreamDx, Inherent Bioscience, Turtle Health, Maimus, Carrot Fertility.

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Figure Legends from Bacterial Prostatitis Enhances 2-Amino-1-Methyl-6-Phenylimidazo[4,5-&lt;i&gt;b&lt;/i&gt;]Pyridine (PhIP)–Induced Cancer at Multiple Sites

  2023-04-03

  preprintOpen access

  &lt;p&gt;Supplementary Figure Legends&lt;/p&gt;

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Methods from Bacterial Prostatitis Enhances 2-Amino-1-Methyl-6-Phenylimidazo[4,5-&lt;i&gt;b&lt;/i&gt;]Pyridine (PhIP)–Induced Cancer at Multiple Sites

  2023-04-03

  preprintOpen access

  &lt;p&gt;Supplementary Methods file&lt;/p&gt;

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01AI016014

  NIH · $284k · 1987

• NIH Grant R37DK042648

  NIH · $2.0M · 2003

• NIH Grant U01DK045021

  NIH · $810k · 1998

• NIH Grant R01DK053730

  NIH · $866k · 2002

• Induction and Modulation of Host Responses by UPEC

  NIH · $3.4M · 1990–2014

Frequent coauthors

• J. Richard Landis

  Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  193 shared

• J. Curtis Nickel

  Queen's University

  169 shared

• Leroy M. Nyberg

  National Institutes of Health

  167 shared

• Richard B. Alexander

  159 shared

• Kathleen J. Propert

  University of Pennsylvania

  144 shared

• John W. Kusek

  University of Pennsylvania

  141 shared

• Mark S. Litwin

  131 shared

• Michel A. Pontari

  University Health System

  129 shared

Education

• M.D.

  University of Utah