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Use of an extraperitoneal approach for either laparoscopic or robot-assisted radical prostatectomy yields excellent results and has a number of significant advantages over a transperitoneal route, say surgeons who presented their experience with extraperitoneal surgery at the AUA annual meeting here.

At least half of all men age 50 and older will develop benign BPH, and of these, 29% may undergo BPH-related surgery during their lifetimes. Drawing on data from more than 6,900 men in the BPH Registry and Patient Survey, Claus Roehrborn, MD, and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, sought to identify early factors related to the eventual surgeries.

Two-year results of the Stress Incontinence Surgical Treatment Efficacy Trial (SISTEr) will allow physicians and patients to have more educated conversations about procedures for stress urinary incontinence and what can be expected in terms of efficacy and complications, according to the investigators of that prospective, randomized, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases-supported trial.

Subbarao V. Yalla, MD, and Maryrose Sullivan, PhD, both from the VA Boston Healthcare System and Harvard University, received the Verathon Technology Challenge Award here Sunday for their paper titled "Non-invasive Objective Assessment of Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction: Differentiation of Overactive Bladder and Bladder Outlet Obstruction." The prize for the winning paper was $10,000.

Rainer M. Engel, MD, curator of the William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History, documents the history of women in medicine at "Women Healers," an exhibit on display during this week's AUA annual meeting. Although female urologists did not exist 60 years ago, nearly 800 women practice urology in the United States today.

An analysis of experience with nerve-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in more than 2,600 men after up to 5.5 years of follow-up indicates that the procedure provides good cancer control and functional outcomes comparable to those achieved with open surgery, urologists from the Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, reported at yesterday's AUA annual meeting.

In expanded studies, Early Prostate Cancer Antigen-2 (EPCA-2) continues to demonstrate high specificity and sensitivity as a serum biomarker for prostate cancer, reported the researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, who developed this diagnostic tool.

Older women can expect more complications from sling surgery and less favorable outcomes than can younger patients, according to a retrospective study of 1,356 sling procedures. The data were derived from Medicare claims.

A small study from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine has revealed solid evidence that sacral neuromodulation affects the central nervous system.

Alpha-blockers have a positive effect on several debilitating symptoms associated with urination in patients receiving double-J stents, according to a study presented by Evangelos Gkougkousis from the Second Department of Urology, Sismanoglio Hospital, University of Athens, here at the AUA annual meeting.

Listen to the Urology Times Radio podcast from Day Three of the 2007 AUA Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California. This podcast includes interviews with highly regarded experts in urological medicine including: Pat Fulgham, MD, discusses threats to imaging in urology Anthony Atala, MD, provides an update on tissue engineeringPeggy Norton, MD, presents new data on voiding symptoms in women planning continence surgery

Arieh Shalhav, MD, has been named permanent section chief for urology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Shalhav, who has served as interim urology section chief for the department of surgery since last July, is a recognized authority on minimally invasive urologic surgery, and is director of the university?s minimally invasive urology program and fellowship.

AllMeds (Oak Ridge, TN) has introduced a new addition to its line of electronic medical records systems specifically created for urology practices. The EMR for Urology contains clinical content to allow urologists to increase revenue through more accurate E&M coding and reimbursement levels, efficiency gains through workflow management and decision support tools, and greater audit protection due to improved encounter documentation, the company says.

A once-daily, 5-day course of levofloxacin (Levaquin) is equally effective as standard 10-day, twice-daily treatment with ciprofloxacin (Cipro) in the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections and acute pyelonephritis, according to study data reported at the AUA annual meeting.

Superimposing PET and CT images acquired using [11C] choline in patients with rising PSA following therapy for prostate cancer can identify and anatomically locate cancer recurrence, according to a study from Germany.

Fewer than 5% of laparoscopic urologic surgical procedures ever convert to open procedures. A new study confirms that as surgeons gain experience, the conversion rate falls even lower.

The authors of a study from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, suggest that physicians treating middle-aged hypogonadal men with extrinsic testosterone should be more vigilant in monitoring these patients' PSA levels than they would be in monitoring non-hypogonadal men of the same age.

After nearly 7 years of follow-up, cryoablation appears to be as effective as external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in the treatment of localized prostate cancer, according to the results of a prospective, randomized trial by researchers at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

A study emanating from Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, indicates that urinary symptoms alone are insufficient to diagnose urinary retention.

Voiding symptoms are common in women who are planning incontinence surgery, even if they have no prior history of incontinence procedures. That is just one of the surprises from the Stress Incontinence Surgical Treatment Efficacy Trial (SISTEr), the largest randomized study of female incontinence surgery ever performed.

B-K Medical (Wilmington, MA) has launched at this week's AUA annual meeting two new transducers with applications for prostate examination, brachytherapy, and pelvic floor scanning in women.

Listen to the Urology Times Radio podcast from Day Two of the 2007 AUA Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California. This podcast includes interviews with highly regarded experts in urological medicine including: Anthony D'Amico, MD, discusses ADT and the associated risk of cardiac mortality Brent Yanke, MD, talks about endoscopic treatment of low-grade TCCJ. Stuart Wolf, MD, discusses the expansion and contraction of U.S. urologic practice

Researchers at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany, are exploring the potential of oncofetal fibronectin (fFN) as a potential new marker for bladder cancer. If successful, the test would be a simple urine dipstick test involving a monitor that measures the concentration of the protein in a sample. It would produce results in about 20 minutes.

Initiating androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in men with prostate cancer significantly increases the risk of incident diabetes, and that effect occurs within a relatively short time frame, according to research presented here yesterday.

A search for reasons behind the decline in prostate cancer mortality since the mid-1990s revealed two of the usual suspects-PSA screening and access to health insurance-but also uncovered an unlikely and totally unexpected lipid factor.

When performed by the hands of experienced prostate cancer surgeons at a center of excellence, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) and open retropubic radical prostatectomy (RRP) are associated with comparable outcomes in the treatment of clinically localized prostate cancer, according to findings reported by urologists from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Patients with a relatively small volume of low-grade, upper-tract transitional cell carcinoma can be managed by purely endoscopic means over a long period of time, surgeons from Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, reported here.

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) delivered in conjunction with surgery, radiation therapy, or cryotherapy for localized prostate cancer appears to significantly increase the risk of fatal cardiovascular (CVD) events among men 65 years and older. The increased risk is maintained after adjusting for most known coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors and increases with increasing duration of therapy, but is present in men receiving as little as 3 months of ADT, according to the findings of a retrospective study reported yesterday at the AUA annual meeting.

Adding new data to the controversy involving urology and orthopedics, a review of trauma-associated posterior urethral distraction injury revealed a post-treatment infection rate of 8.8% in men who received suprapubic catheters with orthopedic intervention for pelvic fractures.

Listen to the Urology Times Radio podcast from Day One of the 2007 AUA Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California. This podcast includes interviews with highly regarded experts in urological medicine including: J. Quentin Clemens, MD, discusses primary care practice patterns of chronic prostatitis Neal Shore, MD, reports on research comparing two devices for treating BPHDean Tripp, PhD, and J. Curtis Nickel, MD, discuss a biopsychosocial model for quality of life in CP/CPPS