Pediatrics

Chicago--A phase II clinical trial now enrolling patients aims to test the efficacy of an immunophilin ligand in assisting the regeneration of penile nerves following radical prostatectomy.

Laptop computers used in the lap position significantly increase scrotal temperature as a result of heat exposure and posture-related effects, according to a report in Human Reproduction (published online Dec. 9, 2004).

After years of debate, the American Board of Urology has voted to submit an application to the American Board of Medical Specialties for approval of a Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) in pediatric urology.

Q A pediatric urologist I code for is concerned that we cannot bill/code for both orchiopexy and a hernia repair done during the same operating room session. Do you have any documentation on this matter? When you look up 54640 in CPT 2004, it references, "For inguinal hernia repair performed in conjunction with inguinal orchiopexy, see 49495-49525." In the Medicare Correct Coding Guidelines, I do not see any edits stating not to bill both procedures together.

Shrewsbury, United Kingdom--Over the past 30 years, the incidence of bladder cancer has increased almost 60% among females in the United Kingdom. But this upward trend does not appear to be related to changes in smoking habits, as researchers from Royal Shrewsbury Hospital had previously thought.

Dextranomer/hyaluronic acid has the potential to lower the cost and also the morbidity of repeated voiding cystourethrograms in children.

San Francisco--The microsurgical approach is an effective method for varicocele repair in adolescents and offers the advantages of lower rates of persistence, recurrence, and hydrocele formation than alternative methods, according to the findings of two independent studies presented at the AUA annual meeting.

Group strives for world-class care and excellent quality of life for its urologists

Do you think the three available phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors-vardenafil hydrochloride (Levitra), tadalafil (Cialis), and sildenafil citrate (Viagra)-are essentially the same, or do they have distinct advantages in the treatment of ED?

Here's how to code when LHRH injection, cystoscopy, and biopsy are providedon the same day

San Francisco--Continuing a trend of mixed results seen in previousstudies, neoadjuvant chemotherapy with docetaxel (Taxotere) resulted ina significant PSA response but failed to induce any histologic changes inlocally advanced prostate cancer, Cleveland Clinic investigators reportedat the AUA annual meeting.

If you're looking for articles about urologic surgery in this issue ofUrology Times, you may be disappointed. The "leading newsmagazine forurologists" is still just that-an important source of news and informationfor individuals who practice what has always been a surgical specialty.But the articles in this issue's special "State of Urology" seriesclearly show that surgery-especially traditional open surgery-continuesto give way to drug therapy and minimally invasive procedures for managingmost common urologic conditions.

In many ways, the practice of urology in children is substantially differentfrom that in adults. But, at present, two of the most exciting trends inpediatric urology mirror developments in adult urology.

Events around San Francisco in May

Current lack of support may stem from misinterpretation of OIG guidelines

Inappropriate wetting and voiding habits are common in children, constituting 20% to 25% of new patients seen in the pediatric urology office setting.

Use of the popular seasonal allergy drug loratadine (Claritin) in early pregnancy does not influence the occurrence of hypospadias in infants, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux and the pathology oftestis tumors were the subject of both important new research and livelydiscussion during the 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urologymeeting. Although many important topics were discussed at what is arguablythe finest annual meeting on pediatric urology in the world, these two subjectsdeserve particular attention and are the focus of articles in this issueof Urology Times.

Anthony Atala, MD, a pediatric urologist and internationally recognized leader in tissue engineering, has joined Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.

The NIDDK-funded 'Urologic Diseases in America' is a broad-based, $6.9million project that will quantify the economic and human burden of urologicdiseases on the American population. In this exclusive Urology Times interview,Mark S. Litwin, MD, MPH, the study's principal investigator, outlines thescope of the project, its goals and objectives, and its relevance to practicingurologists. Dr. Litwin is professor of urology and public health at theDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA School of Public Health.He is also a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Theinterview was conducted by UT Editorial Consultant Richard D. Williams,MD, professor and chairman of the department of urology at the Universityof Iowa, Iowa City.

Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin malignancy among men in Europe, North America, and Australia and, after lung cancer, represents the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men in these regions.4 Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute, which covers approximately 26% of the US population, show the rising incidence of cancer of the prostate (Figure 1).

Presented by Ronald Rabinowitz, MD, University of Rochester (NY) MedicalCenter.

Chicago-The cutting-edge field of angiogenesis is growing each year,according to M. Judah Folkman, MD, professor of pediatric surgery at Children'sHospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, shown here. Dr. Folkman presentedthis year's John Duckett Memorial Lecture, "Angiogenesis in the genitourinarysystem," during the AUA meeting here yesterday.

Boston-Children with myelomeningocele and undescended testis face greaterrisk of infertility than patients with undescended testis alone, accordingto research presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urologyannual meeting here. In a related study, researchers found that patientswith defective second step germ cell maturation due to cryptorchidism havea poor fertility prognosis.

Boston-Pregnant mice exposed to synthetic estrogens resulted in shorter urethras and disrupted urethral seam closures in their offspring, according to researchers from the University of California, San Francisco. They say their research supports previous cause-and-effect data regarding endocrine disruptors and genital tubercle anomalies.