Endoscopic removal of a retained pelvic drain fragment with CO2 pneumoperitoneum.

Retained drains are an infrequent and usually avoidable postsurgical complication. There are few reports in the contemporary literature regarding minimally invasive techniques to remove retained postsurgical drains. We present a novel technique for the removal of a retained deep pelvic Jackson-Pratt drain by means of a fluoroscopically guided transurethral endoscopic technique with minimal CO(2) pneumoperitoneum performed safely through a newly transected urethral stump under local anesthesia.

Identification of filling versus voiding reflux as predictor of clinical outcome.

Objectives: In children diagnosed with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), the identification of reflux is made during either the filling (filling reflux) or voiding (voiding reflux) phase of the voiding cystourethrogram. A retrospective study was performed to determine whether this radiologic distinction has prognostic significance.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed of patients who had undergone voiding cystourethrography from July 1999 to June 2004.

Expression signatures that correlated with Gleason score and relapse in prostate cancer.

Predicting prognosis in prostate carcinoma remains a challenge when using clinical and pathologic criteria only. We used an array-based DASL assay to identify molecular signatures for predicting prostate cancer relapse in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) prostate cancers, through gene expression profiling of 512 prioritized genes. Of the 71 patients that we analyzed, all but 3 had no evidence of residual tumor (defined as negative surgical margins) following radical prostatectomy and no patient received adjuvant therapy following surgery.

Role of sialic acid in urinary cytoprotective activity of Tamm-Horsfall protein.

Objectives: Tamm-Horsfall protein (THP) from normal urine has been shown to protect against the cytotoxic effects of toxic urinary cations (TFs) in vivo and in vitro. This study investigated the effect of desialylation on the cytoprotective activity of THP.

Methods: From pooled 24-hour urine specimens from healthy individuals, both TFs and THP were obtained.

Second malignancies in early stage laryngeal carcinoma patients treated with radiotherapy.

A retrospective review of 240 patients with T1/T2 squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx was performed. Seventy-two per cent had glottic primaries, 27 per cent had supraglottic tumours and one per cent had subglottic disease. Sixty-nine per cent presented with T1 disease and 31 per cent had T2 staged tumours.