All News

Three new staff members have joined the Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological Institute: Jeffrey Palmer, MD, is the director of minimally invasive surgery, pediatric urology; Courtenay K. Moore, MD, is a specialist in female urology; and Edmund Sabanegh, MD, is head of the section of male infertility.

Peter R. Carroll, MD, has been appointed director of clinical services and strategic planning of the University of California, San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center and associate dean of the UCSF School of Medicine.

Vardenafil (Levitra) appears to be effective at first dose, with continued success in treating erectile dysfunction in men with associated medical conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, the authors of a Canadian study report.

Treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit [Thymoglobulin]) results in a significantly reduced risk of acute rejection and acute rejection requiring antibody therapy and a similar risk of delayed graft function, graft loss, and death in kidney transplant patients compared with patients receiving induction therapy with basiliximab (Simulect), according to a study published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine (2006; 355:1967-77).

Topiramate (Topamax), a drug commonly prescribed to treat seizures and migraines, can increase the propensity for calcium phosphate kidney stones, according to a study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

A coalition of prostate cancer advocacy groups has issued a call for Medicare to drop its least costly alternative (LCA) policy of for prostate cancer patients.

Men with overactive bladder and lower urinary tract symptoms who receive combination therapy are more likely to report improvement in symptoms than those who receive only one medication, according to results of a study recently reported in JAMA (2006; 296:2319-28).

PSA velocity is an accurate gauge of prostate tumor aggression and danger, even when PSA levels are so low as to not warrant a biopsy, according to researchers at the Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

Diagnostic Ultrasound Corp. has updated its company name to Verathon, Inc. (Bothell, WA).

Firefighters in five Rhode Island communities are being offered free screening for bladder cancer in a voluntary program paid for and sponsored by their local state representatives.

Two consumer advocacy groups have joined with the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) to improve patient safety during surgery and increase communication between patients and their caregivers.

New guidelines, one set for adults and one for children, have been developed to help physicians reduce the occurrence of postoperative nausea and vomiting.

New explanatory analyses of a phase III study support earlier results observed with treatment using the investigational active cellular immunotherapy sipuleucel-T (Provenge) in men with advanced androgen-independent prostate cancer, researchers reported at the Prostate Cancer Foundation's annual scientific retreat in Scottsdale, AZ.

The National Cancer Institute has released new data from the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility study on prostate cancer that may help identify genetic factors that influence the disease and will be integral to the discovery and development of new targeted therapies.

It's easy to spot the complainer, but that is the exception.

Cleveland-Intravenous ketorolac tromethamine is safe and appears to be effective at alleviating pain following percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) procedures in properly selected patients, according to a study from the Methodist Hospital Institute for Kidney Stone Disease and Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.

An increase in 2007 of $190 million was requested to promote program integration and interdisciplinary team science.

Cherry Hill, NJ-Lightweight Clip Mags from Vision USA attach to eyeglasses or safety glasses with non-scratch coated clips. Whether in bifocal or full-field magnification, they are available in strengths of 1.0?, 1.5?, 2.0?, 2.5?, 3.0?, 3.5?< and 4.0? power. When not in use, they flip up out of the way.

It's easy to spot the complainer, but that is the exception.

What is considered the usual postoperative bleeding time following a transurethral resection of the prostate?

Between 30% and 60% of calcium oxalate stone patients have hypercalciuria in the absence of raised serum calcium levels.

Cleveland-Routine transposition of an anterior crossing vessel during laparoscopic pyeloplasty may be unnecessary, appears to depend on the surgeon's intraoperative subjective assessment of its obstructive nature, and seems to occur more often when a transperitoneal approach is used, Cleveland Clinic investigators reported.

Cleveland-A Mayo Clinic study published earlier this year raised more than a few eyebrows when its authors concluded that treatment of renal stones with shockwave lithotripsy appears to heighten the risk of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. More recently, researchers from Northwestern University reported a similar finding in patients with pancreatic stones-that SWL used in these patients may be associated with an increased risk of diabetes.

Cleveland-A staged approach to endoscopic lithotripsy may be a reasonable treatment option in patients with large renal stones who are not ideal candidates for the gold standard of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center reported. Their technique, known as staged retrograde endoscopic lithotripsy (SREL), has a slightly lower success rate than PCNL does, but it is less invasive and associated with fewer complications.

Cleveland-With the growing acceptance of flexible ureteroscopy at academic centers, this endoscopic technique as a treatment for renal stones has made fewer inroads into the practices of community urologists, data from a large U.S. inpatient database indicate. The reasons for the procedure's apparent lack of popularity in the community, at least in the inpatient setting, are unclear.

Cleveland-The size and volume of upper-urinary-tract calculi do not necessarily predict outcomes of ureteroscopic lithotripsy, but stones of larger size and volume require significantly more time and effort to clear, according to a group of urologists from St. Paul, MN.

Cleveland-Dean G. Assimos, MD, professor of urology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, asked a simple question here at the World Congress of Endourology: "Is the Internet a reliable source of information for dietary recommendations for stone formers?"

Cleveland-Urologists at Emory University, Atlanta, may or may not have slain an urban myth, but at the very least, the team has given it a sound kick. Cola in moderation does not change urine chemistries significantly, and therefore does not appear to raise the risk of forming stones, the team concluded after comparing cola to deionized water in a randomized, prospective pilot study.