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INTRODUCTION: We reviewed our experience with the use of gabapentin to treat symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB) and nocturia in patients who have failed conventional anticholinergic therapy. METHODS: Thirty-one patients referred to us with refractory (OAB) and/or nocturia were treated with oral gabapentin. All the patients had tried or remained on antimuscarinic drugs during treatment. Twenty-four of 31 complained of bothersome symptoms during day and night and the other seven had primary complaints of nocturia. Initial gabapentin doses ranged from 100-300 mg at bedtime. Dose was slowly titrated up to 3,000 mg based on patients' symptomatology and tolerability. RESULTS:The mean age was 51 years old (range 27-78). There were 13 men and 18 women. The median steady state dose chosen by the patient after initial titration was 600 mg/day. Fourteen of 31 patients reported subjective improvement of their frequency and 8 have been on the medication for over 12 months with persistent efficacy. For the 14 improved patients, mean frequency/24 hours decreased from 14.1 ± 2.2 to10.0 + 2.1. Three patients with primary nocturia reported improvement from a mean of 4.0 ± 1.3 to 1.0 ± 0.3 episodes/night. Six patients stopped taking the drug within one month due to side effects mostly described as drowsiness or lethargy. CONCLUSION: Fourteen of 31 patients with refractory (OAB) and nocturia improved with oral gabapentin. Gabapentin was generally well tolerated and can be considered in selective patients when conventional modalities have failed.

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PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine: 1) whether the NAT2 genotypes are risk factors for bladder cancer, 2) to study possible association of tobacco usage with NAT2 genotype of these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case control study was undertaken over a period of 19 months and included 101 bladder cancer patients and 110 controls. The NAT2 genotypes were identified by PCR-RFLP method in peripheral blood DNA samples. Genotypes frequencies and the association of the genotypes among patients and controls group were assessed by chi2 test and Fisher exact test. RESULTS: The NAT2 fast acetylator genotype frequency of slow or fast acetylator genotypes was not significant in bladder cancer patients alone (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 0.69 - 2.03, p value = 0.583) or combination with tobacco users (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.328 - 2.125, p value = 0.813) when compared with controls. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that the NAT2 fast or slow acetylators genotype did not associated with the risk of developing bladder cancer in North Indian population when compared with controls.

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INTRODUCTION: Biochemical failure has been defined as 3 consecutive increases in PSA following curative treatment of prostate cancer. The appropriate management in such cases is controversial. The most usual treatment has been early introduction of hormones. Such patients will live for many years and hormone therapy causes important secondary effects and increases costs. The guideline in our Department of Radiotherapy has been to follow up, with no initial therapy, cases with low PSA and short PSA doubling time. The present study reports this experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 528 patients with localized prostate cancer were treated by radical approach between 1992 and 1999, with external radiotherapy, with or without adjuvant hormone therapy. After a median follow-up of 77 months, there were 207 (39%) cases with biochemical failure, 78 of which were followed without therapy after the identification of biochemical failure. All of them were asymptomatic patients and had negative radiographic examinations or did not have imaging exams requested since they presented a favorable outcome. The follow-up included at least 2 annual visits with physical examination and PSA. RESULTS: Of the 78 patients with biochemical failure followed without initial therapy, 7 died from other causes than prostate cancer and the remaining 71 cases were alive and asymptomatic in the last follow-up. Prognostic factors previous to radiotherapy such as stage and Gleason score were not considered when deciding for follow-up without initial therapy in these cases. The most significant aspects considered for this decision were low PSA value (median PSA on the last visit for the 78 cases was only 3.9 ng/mL) and a slow PSA doubling time (in the present experience the median PSA doubling time was 22.5 months). CONCLUSION: There seems to be space for expectant management, without initial hormone therapy, in patients with prostate cancer who present biochemical failure and are asymptomatic after radical external radiotherapy. This decision is important, since early introduction of hormones brings late effects and is expensive. Prospective and randomized studies are required to define this issue.

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OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence of bladder carcinoma infiltrating the prostate and prostate adenocarcinoma in patients undergoing radical cystoprostatectomy due to bladder cancer, as well as to assess if the characteristics of the bladder neoplasia influence the prostatic involvement by this neoplasia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively assessed 60 male patients, who underwent radical cystoprostatectomy between July 1997 and December 2003. Mean age was 66.7 years (40 and 93 years). The product of radical cystoprostatectomies was checked for involvement of urethra and prostate parenchyma by the primary neoplasia, and for the presence of associated prostate adenocarcinoma. Bladder neoplasia characteristics, such as localization, size, multifocality, association with in situ carcinoma and histological grade, were studied in order to assess the possibility of using such characteristics as predictive factors of prostate infiltration by bladder urothelial carcinoma. RESULTS: We observed the presence of 20% of patients with bladder carcinoma infiltrating the prostatic urethra, 23.3% of patients with infiltration of the prostate parenchyma and 28.3% of patients with associate prostate adenocarcinoma, resulting in a total of 55% of patients with prostatic involvement (infiltrative bladder carcinoma and/or adenocarcinoma). We also observed a statistically significant correlation between tumor location in the trigone, the presence of in situ carcinoma and the histological grade of the bladder tumor with prostatic infiltration by the vesical neoplasia. CONCLUSION: The coexistence of prostatic neoplasia in patients operated for bladder neoplasia was frequent in our sample (55%). We observed that the prostatic infiltration by bladder tumors occurs more frequently with tumors located in the trigone, with associated in situ carcinoma and with high histological grade. There was no correlation between neoplastic infiltration of prostate and multifocality or size of the bladder tumor in the studied sample.

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INTRODUCTION: Aponeurotic sling surgeries can evolve with obstruction or voiding dysfunction in 5 to 20% of patients. There are few studies on factors that could possibly predispose to voiding difficulties or urinary retention. The objective of this work is to identify these potential clinical or urodynamic factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records from 130 patients who underwent aponeurotic sling surgeries were reviewed. All patients underwent a throughout urodynamic study during pre-operative investigation. The variables studied were age above 65 years, previous pelvic surgeries, concomitant surgeries, post-voiding residue higher than 100 mL, vesical obstruction (according to Blaivas-Groutz nomogram) and urinary flow under 12 mL/s. Post-voiding residue was assessed on the seventh post-operative day through vesical catheterization. Recovering of spontaneous voiding after 7 post-operative days or with a residue higher than 100 mL, was regarded as voiding dysfunction. Univariate analysis was performed with qui-square test and Fisher's exact test, and multivariate analysis was performed by logistic regression with alpha = 5%. RESULTS: Age in the studied group ranged from 41 to 83 years (mean 56.7 years), with 69 (53%) patients having urethral hypermobility and 61 (47%) having intrinsic urethral lesion. Normal voiding occurred in 97 (75.6 %) women with 7 post-operative days. The only significant variable in the univariate (p = 0.014) and multivariate (p = 0.017) analysis was post-voiding residue higher than 100 mL. CONCLUSION: Pre-operative presence of a post-voiding residual urine higher than 100 mL was the only variable predictive of voiding dysfunction.

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OBJECTIVE: Description and early results of a new urethral sling technique for treatment of postprostatectomy urinary incontinence, which combines efficacy, low cost and technical simplicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 2003 to April 2004, 30 patients with moderate or total urinary incontinence, following radical prostatectomy or endoscopic resection of the prostate, underwent the new technique. The technique is based on the placement of a longitudinal-shaped sling in the bulbar urethra, measuring 4 cm in length by 1.8 cm in width, made of Dacron or polypropylene mesh, fixed by 4 sutures on each side, with 2 sutures passed with Stamey-Pereira needle by retropubic approach and 2 by prepubic approach, which are then tied over the pubis. Pressure control was determined by interrupting the loss of infused water through a suprapubic cystostomy 60 cm from the pubis level. RESULTS: Pre-operative assessment excluded vesical instability, urethral stenosis and urinary infection. Suprapubic cystostomy was removed when the patient was able to satisfactorily void with urinary residue lower than 100 mL, which occurred in 29 of the 30 cases. In 2 cases, there was infection of the prosthesis, requiring its removal. In 3 cases, there was the need to adjust the sling (increasing the tension), due to failure of the urinary continence. Overall, 20 of 30 (66.7%) operated patients became totally continent, and did not require any kind of pads. Four of 30 (13.3%) patients achieved partial improvement, requiring 1 to 2 pads daily and 6 of 30 (20%) patients had minimal or no improvement. There was no case of urethral erosion. CONCLUSION: This new sling technique has shown highly encouraging preliminary results. Its major advantage over other surgical techniques for treatment of moderate or severe stress urinary incontinence is the simplicity for its execution and low cost. A long-term assessment, addressing maintenance of continence, detrusor function and preservation of the upper urinary tract, is still needed.

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Adenomatoid tumors of adrenal gland are rare, asymptomatic neoplasias, with benign behavior, and usually are diagnosed incidentally. We report a case of a voluminous adenomatoid tumor of left adrenal gland in a 42-year old man who sought evaluation because of renal colic due to left nephrolithiasis. During the investigation, a tumor localized in left adrenal gland was identified by ultrasonography (14.3 x 10.5 x 19.0). The patient underwent adrenalectomy and pyelolithotomy with histopathological and immunohistochemical diagnosis of adenomatoid tumor of adrenal gland, being the largest one described in the literature to the moment. The patient does not present any signs of recurring lesion after a 3-year follow-up.

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Spontaneous renal fistula to the skin is rare. The majority of cases develop in patients with antecedents of previous renal surgery, renal trauma, renal tumors, and chronic urinary tract infection with abscess formation. We report the case of a 62-year old woman, who complained of urine leakage through the skin in the lumbar region for 2 years. She underwent a fistulography that revealed drainage of contrast agent to the collecting system and images suggesting renal lithiasis on this side. The patient underwent simple nephrectomy on this side and evolved without intercurrences in the post-operative period. Currently, the occurrence of spontaneous renal and perirenal abscesses is extremely rare, except in patients with diabetes, neoplasias and immunodepression in general.

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Horseshoe kidney with pyelic fusion and crossed single ureter is a rare anomaly, with only 3 cases described in the literature. Such anomaly can be accompanied by other abnormalities, such as congenital scoliosis and situs inversus totalis. We present one case of this malformation associated with malignant neoplasia, treated with partial nephrectomy.

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Cake kidney is a rare congenital anomaly of the urogenital tract, with a few more than 20 cases described in the literature. It can be diagnosed at any age range. Normally, drainage is achieved by 2 ureters, and there are only 5 reports in the literature of cake kidney drained by a single ureter. The authors describe one more case of this rare malformation of the urinary tract.

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The author presents a prototype of a disposable device that enables, in one single movement, the passing of all suture stitches in the urethral stump that will be anastomosed to the bladder or to a neobladder, with the advantage of a regular distribution of these stitches around the urethral circumference. In tests with animals, the device showed to be easily applicable, effective and safe.

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PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of small intestine submucosa (SIS) in the reconstruction of the ureter in swine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An experimental study was performed in 10 half-breed pigs weighing between 20 and 30 K, in which a previously prepared segment of SIS measuring approximately 2.0 cm was implanted in the upper third part of the right ureter. RESULTS: Of the 10 operated animals, one died 14 days after the surgery due to a dehiscence on the suture line of the implanted graft. The remaining 9 animals were submitted to ultrasound examination of the urinary tract and were sacrificed on the 40th postoperative day. The macroscopic evaluation showed no calculus, incrustation, fistula, abscesses or adhesions in the ureters with the graft. Microscopic evaluation with hematoxylin-eosin and Sirius red showed in the experimental area (graft) the presence of urothelium in 100% of the cases, collagen in 100% of the cases, and smooth muscle layer in 87.5% of the animals. In the area adjacent to the graft (proximal and distal), we observed 92.86% of urothelium, 42.86% of collagen and 71.43% of smooth muscle. In the contralateral ureter, it was found 100% of urothelium and smooth muscle and just 11.11% of collagen. The microscopic analysis of the kidneys whose ureters received the graft of SIS evidenced congestion in 55.55%, pelvic edema in 66.66% and interstitial nephritis in 77.78%. Hydronephrosis was present in 33.33% and chronic pyelonephritis in 44%. Only 1 animal presented total absence of glomerulus in the renal parenchyma. CONCLUSION: The SIS graft behaved as a biological tissue support, allowing the regeneration of the urothelium and smooth muscle grow, despite of chronic inflammatory process.