Sexual partner satisfaction of the patients with chronic renal failure.

OBJECTIVES: Sexual satisfaction is one of the important components in social life. It can be spoiled by many factors such as chronic diseases. Therefore, chronic diseases may spoil partners' sexual satisfaction. In this study, we aimed to evaluate sexual partner satisfaction of the patients with chronic renal disease. METHODS: Forty-three couples attempted the study. A total of 24 female (age: 32-67) and 19 male (age: 25-72) partners answered the questionnaire forms. Turkish validated form of "international index of erectile function (IIEF)" for male participants and Turkish validated form of "female sexual function index (FSFI)" for female participants were used. Partners who have chronic diseases were excluded. Female partners were divided into premenopausal (n = 11) and postmenopausal (n = 13) groups. RESULTS: Mean score of male partners was 15.4 (10-22) and overall female partners was 13.5 (4-20). The mean score of premenopausal female partners was 14.8 (10-20) and postmenopausal group was 12.4 (4-18). Generally, all the scores for bothersome questions were low for all male and female partners. There was no statistically significant difference between the scores of premenopausal and postmenopausal female partners' groups (p > 0.05). After male patients had used 20 mg tadalafil, their premenopausal partners' FSFI scores improved significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that chronic diseases such as chronic renal failure affect not only the patients' sexual life but also their partners' sexual life, and it is clearly seen that the decrease of sexual satisfaction is not age demanding. Evaluating sexual functions of both patients with chronic renal disease and their partners should be a routine procedure in urological practice.

Free insulin-like growth factor-1 levels in bladder growth following spinal cord injury experimentally.

INTRODUCTION: To determine the levels of spinal cord injury (SCI) on free insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) content in the bladder and the possible role of free IGF-1 in growth in hypertrophic bladders in an experimental model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The contents of free IGF-1 and protein in paraplegic and non-paraplegic rats which was induced experimentally by SCI were measured. The wet weights of the bladders were also determined. The results gained were compared. RESULTS: The mean bladder free IGF-1 level in paraplegic rats was significantly higher than the corresponding bladder free IGF-1 level in sham-operated bladder (p<0.05). Mean wet weight bladder in paraplegic rats was significantly higher than the sham-operated rats (p<0.05). Paraplegic bladder had a significantly higher mean protein content than the sham-operated bladder (p<0.05). Serum free IGF-1 levels in the two groups were not different. CONCLUSION: Our pilot study reveals that free IGF-1 may be effective in SCI.

Risk factors for the formation of a steinstrasse after shock wave lithotripsy.

INTRODUCTION: We studied the various stone, renal, and therapy factors that could affect steinstrasse formation after shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) to define their predictive value. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between May 1999 and September 2002, 563 patients were treated with a Stonelight V3 lithotriptor. A steinstrasse was recorded in 46 patients. All patient data, stone and renal characteristics, and data of SWL were reviewed. Statistical analyses of patients, stones, and therapy characteristics in correlation with the incidence of steinstrasse formation were performed to assign factors that had a significant impact on the formation of this complication. RESULTS: The overall incidence of a steinstrasse was 8.17%. The steinstrasse was in the pelvic ureter in 84.3% of the cases, in the iliac ureter in 7.84% of them, and in pelvic and iliac ureter in 7.84% of the patients. The incidence of a steinstrasse significantly correlated with stone size and site. The incidence rates of a steinstrasse in renal stones <1 cm, 1-2 cm, and >2 cm were 4.46, 15.87, and 24.3% respectively. The incidence rates of this complication in ureteral stones <1 cm and 1-2 cm were 3.37 and 9.52%, respectively. The incidence rates of a steinstrasse in stones located in upper calices, middle calices, lower calices, and renal pelvis were 6.12, 10.52, 6.36, and 19.32%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Stone size and site are the significant factors predicting the formation of a steinstrasse. If a patient has a high probability of steinstrasse formation, close follow-up with early intervention or prophylactic pre-SWL ureteral stenting is indicated.

Tension-free vaginal tape for surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence: two years follow-up.

BACKGROUND: The objective was to study prospectively the effectiveness of tension-free vaginal tape as an ambulatory and minimal invasive operation for the treatment of female stress incontinence. METHODS: The tension-free vaginal tape procedure was performed in 25 patients with genuine stress incontinence and they were followed for a 2-year period. All patients were diagnosed with urodynamics to have genuine stress incontinence. Pad tests, cough stress test and quality-of-life assessments were carried out in all patients, both preoperatively and postoperatively. The majority of the women were discharged the morning after the surgical procedure. RESULTS: Twenty of 25 (80%) patients were found to be cured 2 years after the operation. The vaginal tape was spontaneously dropped out from the vagina in one patient 2 weeks after the procedure. We did not see such a complication in previous studies. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the tension-free vaginal tape procedure is both a safe and effective method to cure genuine female stress incontinence. Furthermore, it can be performed as an ambulatory procedure under local anesthesia with a short operative time.