Systematic Review of Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) for Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome-Related Infertility.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common cause of female infertility. To conduct a systematic review assessing the efficacy and safety of black cohosh for ovulation-induction through hormone regulation and increased endometrial thickness to improve pregnancy rates in women with PCOS-related infertility. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses was used. A search of Medline, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Science Direct, and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature spanning origin to December 19, 2020 was conducted using keywords and permutations of "black cohosh" and "PCOS." A search for "PCOS" in the National Clinical Trials database and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform was conducted in December 2020 to identify additional records. Eligibility criteria included reported efficacy or safety outcomes; studies in women with PCOS; English language; and primary literature. Eligible records were evaluated using applicable risk-of-bias tools. A total of 181 records were screened after deduplication from 207 results. Two randomized controlled trials (RCT) met inclusion criteria. Review of 1386 records from clinical trial registries and subsequent scoping searches resulted in identification of 4 additional records (3 published). Improvement in hormone regulation and endometrial thickness were found for black cohosh groups compared to clomiphene citrate (CC). Three RCTs reported improved pregnancy rates using black cohosh plus CC. There were no differences in adverse events. Studies demonstrated several risk-of-bias concerns. There is a lack of high-quality evidence supporting the effectiveness of black cohosh for improving pregnancy rates in PCOS-related infertility. Short-term use of black cohosh appears to be safe.

Use of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) in Chinese male patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

PURPOSE: To test the psychometric properties of the International Prostate Symptom Score (Hong Kong Chinese version 2) (IPSS) in Chinese male patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) under secondary care. METHODS: A prospective longitudinal study was done by interviewing subjects at baseline, at 2 week after baseline for assessing test-retest reliability and at 26 week after baseline for assessing responsiveness. All subjects were interviewed to complete a structured questionnaire including IPSS, Short Form-12 Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). RESULTS: The IPSS HRQOL score had weak correlations with SF-12v2 summary and DASS domain scores. For reliability analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.90 for the seven symptom-related items. The intraclass correlation coefficients of the IPSS total symptom score and HRQOL score were 0.90 and 0.86, respectively. For sensitivity, statistically significant differences were detected between the subjects with BPH and those without for IPSS total symptom score (effect size = 0.68) but not the IPSS HRQOL score. The areas under ROC curves for the IPSS total symptom and HRQOL scores were 0.67 and 0.60, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The IPSS was valid, reliable instrument in Chinese patients with BPH. The IPSS total symptom score, but not the HRQOL score, is sensitive in differentiating subgroups.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours of the urinary bladder: multi-centre 18-year experience.

OBJECTIVE: To review a series of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours (IMTs) of the urinary bladder in 10 hospitals in Hong Kong. METHODS: A database search in the pathology archives of 10 hospitals in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2013 was performed using the key words 'inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour', 'inflammatory pseudotumour' and 'spindle cell lesion'. Patient characteristics, clinical features, histological features, immunohistochemical staining results and treatment outcomes were reviewed. RESULTS: Nine cases of IMT of the urinary bladder were retrieved. The mean age was 45.4 ± 22.8 years (range 11-78). Eight patients (88.9%) presented with haematuria and 5 patients (55.6%) had anaemia with a mean haemoglobin level of 6.8 ± 1.3 g/dl. Histologically, the majority of patients (77.8%) had a compact spindle cell pattern. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase staining was positive in 75% of cases. During a mean follow-up period of 43.4 months (range 8-94), none of them developed any local recurrence or distant metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: A high index of suspicion of IMT should be maintained for young patients presenting with bleeding bladder tumours and significant anaemia. IMTs of the urinary bladder run a benign disease course, and good prognosis can be achieved after surgical resection.

Medical expulsive therapy using alfuzosin for patient presenting with ureteral stone less than 10mm: a prospective randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the spontaneous passage rate for patients being treated with alfuzosin 10mg daily after presenting with an acute ureteral stone compared with a control group, and to assess the respective pain control status. METHODS: This was a prospective randomized controlled trial. Patients presenting with an acute ureteral stone (size 5-10mm) were enrolled and randomized into a medical expulsive therapy (MET) group or control group. The MET group received alfuzosin slow release (SR) 10mg daily for 4weeks and dologesic (paracetamol+dextropropoxyphene, four tablets daily on demand) for 2weeks. The control group received the same analgesics for 2weeks only. Diclofenac sodium SR 100mg daily for 2weeks was added in case of suboptimal pain control. All the patients were assessed through phone interview at week 2 and with kidney-ureter-bladder X-ray at week 5 to check for any evidence of stone passage. RESULTS: A total of 67 patients were included in the analysis. The overall spontaneous passage rate was increased by 31.8% with MET (P=0.006). For an upper ureteral stone, the rate was increased by 51.3% (P=0.01). The MET group used significantly less dicolofenac sodium (1.5 tablets vs 6.7 tablets, P=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: MET using alfuzosin SR 10mg daily is effective to enhance the ureteral stone spontaneous passage rate, particularly for upper ureteral stones. Fewer analgesic drugs are consumed and more patients can avoid ureteroscopic lithotripsy and/or extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

Bladder injury mimicking acute renal failure after cesarean section: a diagnostic challenge and minimally invasive management.

The reported incidence of bladder injury after cesarean section ranges from 0.14% to 0.94%. Most of the injuries were found intraoperatively. Delayed presentation is rare. We report a patient with bladder perforation presented with 'acute renal failure' and ascites 14 days after an uneventful cesarean section. Her clinical picture and initial presentation mimicked those of ureteric injury. Conventional cystography failed to demonstrate the bladder perforation. Computed tomography cystography clarified the diagnosis. Subsequent laparoscopic bladder repair resulted in quick and smooth recovery. This case highlights the pitfall of conventional cystography and the successful use of laparoscopy in management of this urologic condition. Literature was reviewed for this condition and its management.

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy: Comparison of lateral transperitoneal and lateral retroperitoneal approaches.

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy has become the method of choice of removal of most of adrenal lesions. This study investigated and compared the results of 2 different approaches of laparoscopic adrenalectomy, through retrospective review of 40 patients. Within this study period between 1995 and 2004, there were 20 lateral retroperitoneal and 20 lateral transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomies performed. There was no significant difference in demographic variables between the 2 groups. Operative time, days to diet and ambulation, hospital stay, rate of conversion and complication did not differ significantly between the 2 approaches. No recurrence was detected upon mean follow-up period of 15.9 months. Learning curves showed gradual decrease in operation time in both approaches, reflecting maturation of techniques. In conclusion, both lateral transperitoneal and lateral retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy are safe and effective. There is no difference in outcome between 2 approaches.