The thermal effect of lasers in urology: a review article.

Lasers as a technology have a leading role in the modern urological treatment armamentarium. In this article, the application of lasers in different areas of urology is described. The major uses are in urolithiasis, benign prostatic enlargement (BPE), and management of many urological malignancies and other benign pathologies. Lasers have become an established treatment modality in urolithiasis, an acceptable alternative with the least side effect profile in BPE patients, and a novel and promising therapy in many other fields of Urology.

Giant pouch stones as a surgical challenge decades after a continent ileal pouch.

Continent cutaneous urinary diversion pouches are prone to complications like stoma blockage by mucus, metabolic derangements, infection, renal derangements and urolithiasis. Pouch urolithiasis is not uncommon, but presentation of a huge stone burden is rare. We report a case of giant pouch stones in a continent pouch which was a surgical challenge. We also highlight the need for adequate hydration, pouch irrigation and drainage by clean intermittent catheterization and regular follow-up, to prevent such a condition from arising.

Delayed Refractory Urethrorrhagia Secondary to Traumatic Pseudoaneurysm of Bulbourethral Artery Managed by Superselective Coil Embolization.

Background: Delayed persistent urethral hemorrhage caused by pseudoaneurysm of bulbourethral artery after straddle injury is a rare event. In this case report, we underline the cause, diagnostic methods, and image-guided treatment modality of straddle injury-induced symptomatic pseudoaneurysm of bulbourethral artery. Case Presentation: A 44-year-old Indian man, with history of straddle injury, was managed conservatively with per urethral Foley catheter placement. He had an uneventful initial period. One week after the injury, he complained of recurrent episodes of gross urethrorrhagia, which failed to resolve with conservative management. On further evaluation, he was found to have a pseudoaneurysm of bulbourethral artery, which was effectively managed by superselective intra-arterial coiling. Prompt diagnosis and timely management by superselective coiling helped in achieving desirable outcome without any undue complication of the injury and procedure. Conclusion: We report the largest pseudoaneurysm poststraddle injury reported till date. Considering its rarity, the desired diagnostic and treatment protocol has been highlighted. Using novel superselective angioembolization technique, adequate and permanent relief from symptoms and complications was achieved.

Unexpected newcastle disease virus in day old commercial chicks and breeder hen.

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) specific antigen in the gut contents and NDV specific antibody in blood circulation were seen in day old chicks belonging to nine different commercial hatcheries of Tamil Nadu, India. Antigen disappeared by 4th week and antibody by 6th week of age. Fourteen NDV isolates obtained from the gut contents of day old chicks of different commercial hatcheries, one NDV isolate from dead in shell eggs and one NDV isolate from breeder hen were characterized and grouped under velogenic, mesogenic and lentogenic pathotypes. Four isolates were grouped under F and another four isolates were grouped under E based on reaction with monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) but found to be velogenic based on pathogenicity tests. In one particular flock velogenie NDV was isolated from breeder hen, dead in shell embryos and day old chicks and they all belong to Mabs group E. Vertical transmission of velogenic, mesogenic and lentogenic NDVs and role of NDVs in the gut contents have been discussed.

Antigenetically unusual Newcastle disease virus from racing pigeons in India.

Newcastle disease virus isolated from an outbreak in racing pigeons in India was found to be velogenic, based on the mean time to death in 10-day-old embryonated hen's eggs, the intravenous pathogenicity index in 6-week-old chickens and the pathogenesis in chickens and pigeons. The virus induced disease in chickens without prior adaptation in chickens. The virus was antigenically unusual since it could not be grouped with the available panel of monoclonal antibodies at the World Reference Laboratory for Newcastle disease, UK. However, commercially available lentogenic and mesogenic vaccines provided 100% protection to chickens against this antigenically unusual NDV.

Characterization of Newcastle disease viruses isolated from chickens and ducks in Tamilnadu, India.

During 1993, outbreaks of Newcastle disease occurred on many farms in Tamilnadu, India. Six Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates were obtained from the chickens on five different farms and from the birds on one duck farm during outbreaks of the disease. All the isolates were characterized as velogenic, based on the mean death time, intravenous pathogenicity index, intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI), stability of haemagglutinin at 56 degrees C, agglutination of equine erythrocytes, haemagglutination elution pattern and adsorption of haemagglutinin by chick brain cells. The isolate obtained from ducks resembled a group D strain, based on its ICPI and its reaction with a panel of monoclonal antibodies. The other five NDV isolates obtained from chickens were placed in groups B(1), C1(2) and D(2) on the basis of their binding patterns with the panel of monoclonal antibodies. In challenge experiments, it was found that LaSota vaccine provided 100% protection against each of these field isolates and against a local NDV strain obtained from the Institute of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Tamilnadu, India, while unvaccinated chickens succumbed to challenge. The possible origin of epizootic viruses causing outbreaks in vaccinated flocks is discussed.

Efficacy of live adjuvanted mesogenic Newcastle disease vaccine in chickens.

120 white leghorn chickens primed with a lentogenic Newcastle disease (ND) live vaccine at 7 days of age were divided into three equal groups of 8 weeks of age and vaccinated with a live mesogenic ND vaccine (NDV). One group received only Newcastle disease mesogenic vaccine (RDVK) in normal saline, the second group received RDVK with groundnut oil as adjuvant and the third group received RDVK with liquid paraffin as adjuvant. Sera were collected at different time points for the assessment of antibody level against ND virus (NDV) by the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. The commonly used non-adjuvanted RDVK could not evince 100% protective HI titre beyond 11 weeks of age but in both the adjuvanted groups 100% protective HI titre was evident up to 20 weeks of age. On challenge at 20 weeks of age both the adjuvanted groups withstood challenge but in the non-adjuvanted group 80% of chickens withstood the challenge. A significant difference in immune response between the adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted groups was seen but not between both the adjuvanted groups. The advantage of vegetable oil (groundnut oil) as an adjuvant for live mesogenic ND vaccine has been discussed.

Dot-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for demonstration of Newcastle disease virus infection.

Dot-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was standardised to detect Newcastle disease virus (NDV) specific antigen in chicken tissues, embryos and allantoic fluid samples. Samples positive by virus isolation were also found positive by haemagglutination (HA) and haemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests and by dot-ELISA but negative samples were found negative by all the serological tests used. Dot-ELISA was able to detect 0.25-0.50 HA units of virus. The emerging utility of dot-ELISA for diagnosis of Newcastle disease virus infection has been discussed.

Comparison of Newcastle disease vaccines by serology using serum, tears and feather pulp samples.

Seroconversion of 3 lentogenic commercial Newcastle disease (ND) vaccines and experimental V4 vaccines was compared based on the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test against ND. It was found that for primary vaccination all the vaccines produced similar response but for vaccinations V4 and LaSota were better than RDVF. Eight-five samples each of serum, tears and feather pulp were collected from respective birds and antibody assessment was done against ND by HI test. The geometric mean HI titres (GMT) of serum samples were highest followed by tears and feather pulp samples before vaccination and 3 weeks after vaccination by oculonasal route and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01). Three weeks after booster vaccination by oculonasal route, however, the GMT of serum samples were highest followed by feather pulp and tear samples. The ease of collection of feather pulp samples and their role in ND serology is discussed.

Pathogenicity and immunosuppressive properties of infectious bursal disease virus field isolates and commercial vaccines in India.

The pathogenicity and immunosuppressive properties of two field isolates of infectious bursal disease. virus (IBDV) and five commercial IBDV live virus vaccines marketed in India were evaluated in this study. The pathogenicity of the wild type viruses and vaccines were based on mortality, the bursa:body weight ratio and microscopic lesions in the bursa in 3-week-old chicks that received these viruses. The immunosuppressive effects of these viruses were evaluated by measuring the antibody responses to sheep red blood cells, Brucella abortus plain antigen and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) vaccine in one-day-old chicks. One field isolate (N35/93) was found to be more pathogenic and immunosuppressive than the other (N45/92) while none of the commercial mild Lukert type vaccines were found to be pathogenic. One of the vaccine strains marked as Mild Lukert type was highly immunosuppressive; one was moderate and one could be classified as mild. Both the intermediate vaccines tested were highly immunosuppressive.

Immunorheophoresis for the diagnosis of infectious bursal disease.

The immunorheophoresis (IR) technique was used for the detection of infectious bursal disease antigen from bursae collected from field cases and experimentally infected chickens. When these results were compared with that of the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test, they showed excellent agreement as determined by kappa value. However, the time taken for the appearance of the precipitin lines was reduced from 14-24 hr in the AGID test to 3-5 hr in the IR technique.

Velogenic Newcastle disease virus in captive wild birds.

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was isolated from the faeces of seven different species of clinically healthy captive wild birds. All seven NDV isolates were characterized as velogenic based on the mean death time in embryonated hens' eggs and the intracerebral pathogenicity index in day-old chicks. Three of the isolates were placed in group C1 based on the reactions with monoclonal antibodies. The role of captive wild birds in the epidemiology of Newcastle disease is briefly discussed.

Postvaccinal immune response to regimens of Newcastle disease vaccination by filter paper sampling technique.

Seven hundred and ten blood samples were collected at random from commercial layers in Tamil Nadu on Whatman filter paper No. 1 instead of the conventional method of serum collection. The birds were subjected to different Newcastle disease (ND) vaccination schedules and samples were collected to study the vaccinal response to ND at field level. Eluates were obtained from sample areas of filter paper using Brij-35 solution [detergent] and subjected to the micro haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test for ND antibodies. The HI titre ranged from less than 2(4) to 2(9). The possible causes of poor immune response to ND vaccinations are discussed.

Methanol-precipitated, detergent-treated Newcastle disease virus as an agar-gel precipitation test antigen.

Methanol-precipitated, detergent-treated (Triton X-100) Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was found suitable as an agar gel precipitation test (AGPT) antigen. One hundred and twenty sera were tested by the haemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test and AGPT against NDV. There was a very significant increase in the proportion of AGPT positive samples with increase in HI titre. Hence AGPT can be recommended as a field based test for seromonitoring following vaccinations against ND where laboratory facilities are inadequate.

Agar-gel-immunodiffusion and counterimmunoelectrophoresis for diagnosis of Newcastle disease.

Chickens were experimentally infected with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and different organs were collected at point of death. Demonstration of NDV specific antigen in tissue samples were detected by haemagglutination (HA), agar-gel-immunodiffusion (AGID) and counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) tests. Out of 51 samples tested 44, 27 and 37 were positive by HA, AGID and CIE respectively. The usefulness of AGID and CIE in Newcastle disease diagnosis is discussed.

Latex immunoassay for rapid detection of Newcastle disease virus.

A rapid test has been developed based on the technique of latex immunoassay for the detection of Newcastle disease virus from suspected tissue suspensions. The latex particles were sensitised with globulins and were used for antigen detection. Of the 258 samples tested, 165 samples were positive by this kit which was compared for its efficacy with the standard OIE approved haemagglutination (HA) and haemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests. No significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed between the tests. The sensitivity and specificity of the developed test was 94.19% and 87.63% respectively.