A checklist for ascertaining study cohorts in oncology health services research using secondary data: report of the ISPOR oncology good outcomes research practices working group.

Objectives: The ISPOR Oncology Special Interest Group formed a working group at the end of 2010 to develop standards for conducting oncology health services research using secondary data. The first mission of the group was to develop a checklist focused on issues specific to selection of a sample of oncology patients using a secondary data source.

Methods: A systematic review of the published literature from 2006 to 2010 was conducted to characterize the use of secondary data sources in oncology and inform the leadership of the working group prior to the construction of the checklist.

Familial testicular torsion: a meta analysis suggests inheritance.

Objective: Familial occurrence of testicular torsion has been infrequently reported. To date, no systematic analysis has been published. We systematically analyzed the literature to elucidate the epidemiology, presentation, management, and whether the observed prevalence of testicular torsion in families is consistent with absence of inheritance and is randomly distributed.

Cost-effectiveness of prostate specific antigen screening in the United States: extrapolating from the European study of screening for prostate cancer.

Purpose: Preliminary results of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer showed a decrease in prostate cancer specific mortality associated with prostate specific antigen screening. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of prostate specific antigen screening using data from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer protocol when extrapolated to the United States.

Materials And Methods: We used previously reported Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare data and a nationwide sample of employer provided estimates of costs of care for patients with prostate cancer.

Familial testicular torsion in three consecutive generations of first-degree relatives.

We report the first and largest family with testicular torsion in three consecutive generations affecting four first-degree relatives. The incidence of familial testicular torsion is under reported in the literature. We recommend eliciting family history in evaluation of acute scrotum, as a useful adjunct for clinical decision making.

Prostate cancer: to screen or not to screen?

The debate about the usefulness of population-based prostate cancer screening has been ongoing for decades. The most current evidence shows limited benefit of population screening, and significant psychological, physical and financial costs. Efforts to improve screening with better markers and more selective treatment may make population-based screening more effective.

An update on lower urinary tract tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis of the genitourinary tract presents with atypical manifestations. Only 20% to 30% of patients with genitourinary tuberculosis have a history of pulmonary infection. Tuberculosis often affects the lower genitourinary system rather than the kidney.

How to diagnose and treat fungal infections in chronic prostatitis.

Epidemiologic changes that include immune-compromised patients and drug-resistant fungi have caused an increase in nosocomial infections by Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida species. Other fungi, aspergilla and Cryptococcus (environmental contaminants), are opportunistic invaders of the immune-compromised (transplant, HIV) patients. The environmental fungi Coccidioides immitis (dry arid areas), Histoplasma capsulatum (Avian-infested areas), and Blastomyces dermatitidis (aquatic areas) can cause infections in immune-competent and immune-deficient patients.