Steroids, drugs and stuttering priapism; the rock-and-roll lifestyle of a 24-year-old man.

The authors present a case of a 24-year-old, poorly controlled insulin-dependent type 1 diabetic Caucasian man who presented to the emergency department, with a painful erection of 36 h duration that had failed to resolve with conservative management. This was the patient's seventh priapism, with his most recent attendance 1 week previously for which he underwent a distal cavernosal shunt. He admitted to taking several recreational drugs, including marijuana and cocaine, during the preceding few days, in addition to the long-term use of the oral anabolic steroid oxandrolone. He had no family history of sickle cell disease or trait. On examination, a tensely erect penis was noted. A diagnosis of stuttering priapism was made and 750 mL of blood subsequently drained via a distal corporoglandular shunt resulting in successful detumescence.

A phase-1 study of sequential mitomycin C and 5-aminolaevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy in recurrent superficial bladder carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To report a phase-1 study of patients with recurrent superficial bladder cancer treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT) using sequential mitomycin C and 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-four patients were treated, the primary endpoint being the safety and tolerability of combined therapy at increasing doses of ALA and light. RESULTS: Mitomycin C instillation was followed by ALA concentrations of 6%, 8% or 10%; there was no effect on toxicity. The light dose, at a wavelength of 635 nm, was increased from zero to 25 J/cm(2), with the upper fluences producing transient symptoms. There were no episodes of skin photosensitivity or systemic toxicity. A total fluence of 25 J/cm(2) represented the upper light dose for the tolerability of this procedure by patients. There were no persistently high urinary symptom scores or reduction in functional bladder capacity up to > or =24 months of follow-up. In this group, cumulative tumour recurrences were none at 4, two at 8, six at 12, nine at 18 and 11 at 24 months after PDT, respectively. CONCLUSION: Sequential mitomycin C and ALA-PDT is a safe and well tolerated treatment, with potential for managing difficult-to-control superficial transitional cell carcinoma and carcinoma in situ of the bladder.