Combined Dorsal and Ventral Onlay Buccal Graft Technique for Large and Complex Penile Strictures.

PURPOSE: To present a modified technique of managing extensive penile urethral strictures with dorsal and ventral onlay buccal mucosa grafts. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From October 2014 to January 2016, a total of 12 patients underwent urethroplasty for penile urethral strictures, using dorsal and ventral onlay grafts from buccal mucosa. The mean age was 42.75 (17-71). All patients completed the IPSS and QoL questionnaire, and uroflowmetry was done preoperatively. After surgery, the follow-up included completion of IPSS and QoL questionnaire and measuring of uroflow at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Postoperative urethrography was performed in complex cases or in the event of deterioration of voiding symptoms. RESULTS: The mean length of the strictures was 5.45 (2, 2-16) cm. Mean Qmax changed from 3.45 ml/sec preoperatively to 18.33 postoperatively, and mean IPS score significantly decreased from 20.1 preoperatively to 8.98 postoperatively. All values were statistically significant (p < 0.001). No intraoperative or immediate postoperative complications were recorded. Overall, at 12 months, 11 out of 12 patients (91.6%) had a marked improvement in quality of life and uroflowmetry parameters. CONCLUSIONS: In the properly selected patient, the combined use of double graft for penile urethral strictures can be successful with minimal morbidity, at short-term follow-up.

Outcome of patients with nonmetastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer not undergoing cystectomy after treatment with noncisplatin-based chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy: a retrospective analysis.

Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or combinations can be used in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) not undergoing cystectomy. Nevertheless, unfitness for cystectomy is frequently associated with unfitness for other therapeutic modalities. We report the outcome of patients with MIBC who did not undergo cystectomy and did not receive cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Selection criteria for the study were nonmetastatic MIBC, no cystectomy, no cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy should have been used aside from TURBT. Forty-nine patients (median age 79), managed between April 2001 and January 2012, were included in this analysis. Median Charlson Comorbidity Index was 5, while 76% were unfit for cisplatin. Treatment included radiotherapy (n = 7), carboplatin-based chemotherapy (n = 25), carboplatin-based chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy (n = 10), and radiochemotherapy (n = 7). Five-year event-free rate was 26% (standard error [SE] = 7) for overall survival, 23% (SE = 7) for progression-free survival, and 30 (SE = 8) for cancer-specific survival (CSS). Patients who were treated with combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy had significantly longer CSS compared to those treated with radiotherapy or chemotherapy only (5-year CSS rate: 16% [SE 8] vs. 63% [SE 15], P = 0.053). Unfit-for-cystectomy patients frequently receive suboptimal nonsurgical treatment. Their outcome was poor. Combining chemotherapy with radiotherapy produced better outcomes and should be prospectively evaluated.

A Prospective Study of Bipolar Transurethral Resection of Prostate Comparing the Efficiency and Safety of the Method in Large and Small Adenomas.

Bipolar technology offers a new perspective in the treatment of BPH. Purpose. To present our experience with the TURis system (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). Materials and Methods. From February 2011 till December 2013 in a prospective study, 93 patients were treated for BPH. They were evaluated with IPSS, QoL, uroflow (Q max), and residual urine (RU), preoperatively as well as 6 and 9 months postoperatively. Based on the prostate volume, the patients were divided into two groups: group A (n = 48) with prostates ≥ 75 cc and group B (n = 45) with smaller prostate glands. All patients underwent bipolar TURP or/and plasma vaporization. Results. The postoperative improvement for IPSS, QoL, Q max, and RU was statistically significant. The operation time was longer in group A in comparison with group B (P < 0.001). The former group also had higher infection and stricture formation rates; however, there was no statistical difference between the two groups. Conclusions. Treatment with the TURis constitutes an effective technique and can be offered to large prostates with results equivalent to those in small ones. Regarding safety, large adenomas treated with TURis are not at a higher risk for urethral stricture but their odds to develop urogenital infections are relatively higher compared to the smaller adenomas.

Experimental evidence for sildenafil's action in the central nervous system: dopamine and serotonin changes in the medial preoptic area and nucleus accumbens during sexual arousal.

INTRODUCTION: Sildenafil is the first effective oral treatment for male erectile dysfunction. Although it is generally accepted that its action is peripheral, it has been suggested that it influences central neural pathways that are involved in male sexual arousal. Recently, it was shown that local sildenafil administration enhances extracellular dopamine (DA) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). AIM: The aim of this study was to determine whether sildenafil administration alters dopaminergic and serotonergic activity in the NAcc and the medial preoptic area (mPOA) during a model of sexual arousal. METHODS: An acute (2 days) or chronic (21 days) sildenafil regimen (1 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally to male rats. Thirty minutes after the last sildenafil injection, all males were exposed to noncontact erection sessions by the presentation of inaccessible estrous females. Half of the males had previous experience of noncontact sexual encounter and the other half were exposed for the first time. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Tissue levels of DA and its metabolites, 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA), as well as serotonin (5-HT) and its metabolite 5-HIAA, were measured in the mPOA and NAcc with high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detector. Dopamine ([DOPAC+HVA]/DA) and serotonin (5-HIAA/5-HT) turnovers were also calculated as indices of neurotransmission. RESULTS: In nontrained males, acute and chronic sildenafil treatment increased DA and 5-HT turnover rates in the mPOA and NAcc. In trained rats, acute sildenafil also increased DA and 5-HT turnover rates in both structures, whereas chronic treatment enhanced 5-HT turnover rate only in the mPOA and DA turnover rate only in the NAcc. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that sildenafil enhances dopaminergic activity in the NAcc, extend these findings to the mPOA and furthermore, reveal sildenafil-induced effects on serotonergic activity in these brain regions as well. Therefore, present findings support an effect of sildenafil on central neural pathways that are involved in the control of sexual arousal.