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Young, healthy infertile men should be screenedfor possible erectile dysfunction since infertility may be the first andonly indication of an endocrine abnormality, according to researchers fromthe University of Toronto.

Transrectal ultrasound is unable to determine whichpatients with ejaculatory duct obstruction might benefit from transurethralresection of the duct, according to Paul Turek, MD, University of California,San Francisco.

Mentor's Ob-Tape is a suburethral sling used for the trans-obturatortechnique. The sling is made from 100% non-woven polypropylene fibers, whichoffer resistance to traction, tissue colonization, and facilitates positioningduring surgery, according to the company.

Dalken introduces the StoneScreen for capturing renal calculi and forpatients attempting to pass stones following extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

Mission Pharmacal offers a specialized group of diagnostic profiles/teststhat analyze the specific constituents that are responsible for and contributeto stone formation.

"Merchants of Medicine: Nostrum Peddlers-Yesterday & Today"from Drukker Press is described by the author as "an imaginary museumof treasures." The new book discusses urologic nostrums and the hucksterswho sold them over the years.

The PelviSoft Acellular Collagen BioMesh from Bard is said to deliverall the performance benefits of natural tissue together with the porosityof synthetic mesh in a single implant for use in pelvic floor reconstruction.

As a salvage for locally recurrent prostate cancer after failed radiation,targeted cryoablation of the prostate provides a "significantly betteroverall quality of life" than salvage radical prostatectomy, said AaronKatz, MD.

Eight months of neoadjuvant hormone therapy prior to radiation therapyappears to offer no significant advantage over the standard of 3 monthsof therapy, at least in low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients.

Recurrence after induction BCG for high-risk bladder cancer portendsan adverse effect on survival, regardless of whether the recurrence is earlyor late, according to a retrospective analysis of a clinical database presentedhere Sunday.

Second-look nephroscopy following percutaneous nephrolithotomy(PNL) could be supplanted by metabolic evaluation and aggressive medicaltherapy, advise researchers from the Duke University Medical Center. Second-looknephroscopy is currently the gold standard for assessing and achieving stone-freestatus, but the Duke researchers sought to determine whether this additionalprocedure was necessary.

Results of two recently released surveys show that symptoms of urinaryincontinence are prevalent in the U.S. population, and that incontinencesufferers are confused about the significance of the condition and oftendo not seek treatment.

he new Gynecare TVT Obturator System is a mid-urethral sling devicefor the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence that maintains manyof the key elements of Gynecare TVT stress incontinence repair.

Bard's new AquaGuide Ureteral Access Sheath is designed with a proprietarydual lumen design, providing a valuable second working channel for a varietyof procedural steps such as irrigation, aspiration, and injection of contrast.

Olympus offers the Trans Urethral Resection in saline (TURis) for theAlpha O.R.-a new bipolar procedure with multiple applications made to workwith the complete line of Olympus resectoscopes.

Louis Potters, MD has been appointed to the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification Groups,or APC Panel.

The Society of Women in Urology presented its first CommunityService Award in Men's Health to Janice Lee Arnold, MD. Dr. Arnold, a privatepractitioner in Reston, VA and SWIU's immediate past-president, was recognizedfor her work to improve education and awareness of prostate cancer screeningin the Washington, DC and northern Virginia metropolitan areas.

Although quality of life improves significantly 6 months after treatmentwith sacral neuromodulation for voiding dysfunction, the reported qualityof life indicators are not statistically significant in the long term. However,not even the mitigation of symptoms is enough to keep patients happy overtime, said Anurag K. Das, MD, during a presentation at the AUA meeting Sunday.

Younger men opting for brachytherapy to treat their prostate cancer mayhave concerns about the long-term effects of radioactivity, including thepossibility of bladder cancer. According to Frank A. Critz, MD, medicaldirector of the Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia, Decatur, there may no beno need to worry.

Is there an increased risk of medical liabilitylitigation associated with the emerging technology of laparoscopy? RobertMarcovich, MD, assistant professor of urology at the University of TexasHealth Science Center, San Antonio, thinks that may be the case.

Aventis Pasteur offers a comprehensive line of vaccines and biologicals,including desmopressin acetate (DDAVP) tablets, 0.2 mg, a synthetic formof the naturally occurring hormone vasopressin.

American Medical Systems offers the Monarc subfascial hammock for thetreatment of female stress urinary incontinence.

Star Pharmaceuticals Inc., offers a new formulation of its antispasmodicantiseptic, Prosed EC, to relieve the pain, burning, and spasm associatedwith urinary tract infections, cystitis, and diagnostic procedures.

Bard Urological Division introduces PelviLace BioUrethral Support System,a tension-free sling technology combined with a Pelvicol porcine acellularcollagen matrix sling. Natural tissue-to-tissue contact with the host reducespotential for urethral and vaginal abrasion or erosion, according to thecompany.

Welcome to the first of five special daily issues of Urology Times E-newsdevoted to coverage of the AUA annual meeting in San Francisco.

Many of the problems a beginning urologist may faceboil down to one common factor­money or the lack of it. Michael Naslund,MD, of the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, discussed someof the financial pitfalls residents may face during a seminar held Saturday.

The use of PSA testing by urologists and primary care physiciansis much lower than that suggested by practitioner- and patient-based publishedself-report estimates, according to a study of national clinic-report dataconducted by urologists at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Analysis of data from the National Institutes ofHealth Chronic Prostatitis Cohort Study has found that about three-fourthsof men with chronic pelvic pain syndrome always have post-ejaculatory pain,and that these men have more severe prostatitis symptoms overall. In addition,the researchers found no indication that ejaculatory obstruction, occultinfection, or worse inflammation was responsible.