In the closing days of the 2007 session, Congress prevented a Medicare payment cut and kept the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) alive, but both moves are only temporary. By unanimous consent on Dec. 18, 2007, the Senate passed the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007. The House passed the same legislation 411-3 the next day, and President Bush signed the measure into law on Dec. 29.
Currently there are several code choices when using the da Vinci system to perform a robotic radical prostatectomy.
This article guides the clinician in the management of initial and recurrent nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Bathe a prostate tumor in metallic particles that preferentially move through permeable capillaries and into the tumor bed. Shine an infrared light on the particles. The metal, but not the tissue, absorbs infrared energy; as it heats, it destroys tumor cells. Tissue not in contact with the metal particles, ie, healthy tissue, is unaffected.
Screens for genetic markers found in the urine of men with prostate cancer offer the possibility of more clinically useful results
Three studies suggest that holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) is efficacious and safe, and that outcomes are durable.
The pace of prostate growth in a majority of men of northern European descent is as steady as a ticking clock and gives clinicians the opportunity to forecast prostate size in many patients with a single ultrasound measurement.
The pace of prostate growth in a majority of men of northern European descent is as steady as a ticking clock and gives clinicians the opportunity to forecast prostate size in many patients with a single ultrasound measurement.
Premature ejaculation, an often-neglected aspect of men's sexual health, is now receiving extensive attention and an influx of research.
Although there is no confirmed direct link between testosterone replacement therapy and prostate cancer, a recent study suggests 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 average men of the same age.
Surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic's Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute have taken laparoscopic surgery to the next level by performing a series of surgeries requiring only a single abdominal incision.
Researchers at the University of Montreal Health Center have created a prognostic tool that fills an important gap in forecasting early recurrence of disease following radical prostatectomy.
Although the observation is awaiting confirmation by more definitive data, it may be that in a select group of radiation-treated prostate cancer patients, 6 months of androgen ablation is as effective as a 3-year course of the adjuvant therapy in terms of cancer-specific survival.
When AUA announced release of new guidelines for the management of ureteral calculi in mid-November, the document established landmarks.
Further analysis of completed studies, along with the completion of ongoing trials, will hopefully clarify the optimal length of adjuvant ADT
New Urology Products & Services
Once again, urologists are at the mercy of the politicians in Washington with a 10.1% average payment rate cut scheduled to take effect this month unless some way, somehow Congress once again comes to the rescue-and President Bush signs whatever legislation is passed.
Urologists who own or who have an interest in ambulatory surgical centers perform more than three times as many stone surgeries as non-owners do.
The specialty of urology is evolving dynamically. With changes in techniques and treatment protocols have come significant practice challenges, including a declining work force, an increased focus on procedures, and competition from other specialties.
Members of the American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (AAASC) and Foundation for Ambulatory Surgery in America (FASA), the nation’s largest ASC associations, voted nearly unanimously to approve the proposed merger of the groups. Effective Jan. 1, 2008, the two organizations will become one, known as the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, or ASC Association.
Mission Pharmacal has sold the rights to its line of kidney stone diagnostics to Quest Diagnostics Inc. Products in the diagnostic line include UroRisk Diagnostic Profile, StoneRisk Diagnostic Profile, StoneTrack Diagnostic Monitoring Test, StoneRisk Citrate Test, and StoneRisk Cystine Tests. These tests are designed to help physicians diagnose patients who are symptomatic and, among those who previously had a stone, help in periodic evaluations of a patient’s propensity to form stones.
The FDA has requested that manufacturers update the labels and prescribing information for tablet and intranasal formulations of desmopressin (DDAVP, Minirin, Stimate), used to treat pediatric nocturnal enuresis, to include important new information about the risk of severe hyponatremia and seizures. The action follows reports of 61 patients who experienced hyponatremia-related seizures linked to use of the drug, including two who died.
Vardenafil (Levitra) significantly improves the ability of men with erectile dysfunction and dyslipidemia to achieve and maintain an erection for successful sexual intercourse, according to a study presented at the Sexual Medicine Society of North America winter scientific meeting in Chicago.
Results from two genome-wide association studies have identified a genetic variant of the DAB2IP gene that is associated with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Research teams from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore made the discovery jointly.
Transrectal high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) appears to offer long-term cancer control in patients with low- or intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer, according to a multicenter study published in the Nov. 5, 2007, online edition of European Urology.
Immunicon Corp. has filed a request for FDA clearance of a product designed to aid in monitoring patients with metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer. According to the company, the CellSearch Circulating Tumor Cell Kit has successfully met its primary endpoint, demonstrating that circulating tumor cell levels 3 to 5 weeks after the initiation of chemotherapy predict overall survival.
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, have found that broccoli sprouts, a rich source of isothiocyanates, may play a direct role in preventing bladder cancer.
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