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Atlanta-Operating room-based procedures continue to make up a significant proportion of urologists' practice, despite a predominance of office-based clinical practice, data from the American Board of Urology indicate.

Washington-Members of the Coalition for the Advancement of Prosthetic Urology (CAPU) spent several days during the last week of September pounding the halls on Capitol Hill, lobbying Congress to improve payment for prosthetic urology procedures and seeking comprehensive insurance coverage for prosthetic urologic procedures. Now they wait to see what their efforts may have won.

Atlanta-Despite media images depicting middle-aged and older men embracing the use of phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors to correct erectile dysfunction, actual interest and usage in this population has not been well studied.

Atlanta-Two studies presented here at the AUA annual meeting suggest that new treatments could be on the horizon for the treatment of elderly patients with renal cancer and comorbid conditions. The studies are small, follow-up was relatively short, and both investigators stated emphatically that the oncologic safety of these treatments must be studied further.

Atlanta-Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) for solitary and multiple renal tumors led to a small but statistically significant decrease in postoperative renal function, but the clinical significance of the finding remains unclear, according to a retrospective review of a patient series at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.

Ann Arbor, MI-Surgeon age is not a significant predictor of risk of mortality after cystectomy, according to the results of a recently published study from researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Ann Surg 2006; 244:353-62).

Atlanta-Delays of fewer than 25 days and more than 84 days from the time a general practitioner referral assigns a patient to cystectomy show a statistically significant, positive relationship to increased patient mortality. Results from a population-based study of the relationship between delayed treatment and mortality were presented at the AUA annual meeting here.

Atlanta-Neoadjuvant chemotherapy using a three-drug combination has demonstrated activity in locally advanced transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder, but it also possesses considerable toxicity. That was the conclusion reported in a poster by University of Michigan researchers at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Atlanta-Men whose infertility is due to varicocele may be able to improve the likelihood of achieving impregnation by undergoing bilateral, rather than unilateral varicocelectomy, when indicated. This was the conclusion of the authors of a Canadian study presented here at the AUA annual meeting.

Atlanta-If you're going to perform a vasectomy reversal, use a microscope. Despite the additional time and cost involved, microsurgical vasovasostomy is superior to the loupe-assisted macroscopic technique, findings from a recent study from Korea confirm.

Los Angeles-A study evaluating secondary care for men with prostate cancer provides useful information for patient counseling, but also underlines the existence of significant regional variations in treatment patterns, and so speaks to the need for a better evidence base on which to develop guidelines for high-quality care, said UCLA researchers.

Ann Arbor, MI-Evidence-based expectant management of men with lower-risk prostate cancer does not seem to be catching on among physicians and their patients. A new study suggests that, among men who are appropriate candidates for the wait-and-see approach, physicians are treating more than half with surgery or radiation therapy.

Atlanta-Patients who undergo radical prostatectomy for clinical stage T4 prostate cancer have a higher survival rate than do patients who receive radiation or hormone therapies alone, and surgical prostate cancer patients' survival is comparable to that of patients who receive both hormone and radiation therapies.

Orlando, FL-In the throes of the PSA era, with stage migration and improved therapies, the impact of family history on prostate cancer prognosis has become minimal, according to a new study.

Atlanta-Minimally invasive slings can work in women with stress urinary incontinence, even after a sling has failed. A key to success may be a higher presurgical Valsalva leak-point pressure.

Atlanta-Undiagnosed urinary incontinence may occur in up to half of adult women age 25 to 80 years, according to a survey sent to patients at Kaiser Permanente Northwest Health Maintenance Organization, Portland, OR.

Atlanta-Adjunctive treatment with the alpha-blocker tamsulosin (Flomax) improves stone clearance and significantly reduces ureteral colic following ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy, researchers reported at the AUA annual meeting.

Baltimore-A new endourology/stone disease scholarship has been proposed in honor of the late Joseph W. Segura, MD.

This story about the operating microscope and the vas has two morals.

Several studies presented at the 2006 AUA annual meeting provided evidence of a relationship between erectile dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms, with some data showing that treatment of LUTS will improve ED and vice versa. Treating multiple conditions at once means that patients may be able to receive better overall care, but physicians must avoid simply treating symptoms and take a more global approach to patient care, according to Steven A. Kaplan, MD. In this Urology Times interview, Dr. Kaplan, professor of urology and chief of the Institute of Bladder and Prostate Health at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York, discusses current findings on the association between ED and LUTS and their implications for patient management. He was interviewed by UT Editorial Consultant Philip M. Hanno, MD, MPH, professor of urology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Linthicum, MD-AUA has partnered with two leading ophthalmology groups to raise awareness that individuals with past or present use of an alpha-1 blocker may develop a condition known as intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) while undergoing cataract surgery and should inform their ophthalmologist about such medication use so that appropriate surgical techniques can be used.

Atlanta-For the past several years, Andrew P. Evan, PhD, chancellor's professor of anatomy and cell biology at Indiana University, Indianapolis, and his colleagues have pursued the etiology of kidney stone formation, stone by stone.

Pat F. Fulgham, MD, has been appointed chief quality officer at Dallas-based Urology Clinics of North Texas (UCNT).

Matritech has launched a series of local programs to screen high-risk individuals for bladder cancer.

Uroplasty, Inc. has received an approvable letter from the FDA relating to its pre-market approval application for Macroplastique implants for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.

Kidney cancer patients with two otherwise healthy kidneys who underwent partial nephrectomy to remove a small cancer developed chronic kidney disease at a rate one-third lower than patients who underwent radical nephrectomy, reported researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Men with prostate cancer and their spouses/significant others are being sought for a joint study being conducted by two Los Angeles-area medical centers as part of a collaborative effort to better understand the genetics of the disease.

Location may be everything when it comes to the pain associated with prostate biopsy.