Ectopic hyperprolactinaemia due to a malignant uterine tumor resembling ovarian sex cord tumors (UTROCST).

Purpose: Moderate hyperprolactinaemia (2-5 times upper limit of normal) occurring in a patient with a normal pituitary MRI is generally considered to be due to a lesion below the level of detection of the MRI scanner assuming macroprolactin and stress have been excluded. Most patients with mild-to-moderate hyperprolactinaemia and a normal MRI respond to dopamine agonist therapy. We present the rare case of a patient who had prolactin elevation typical of a prolactin-secreting pituitary macroadenoma,with a normal cranial MRI, and in whom the prolactin rose further with dopamine agonist treatment.

Quantitative historical analysis uncovers a single dimension of complexity that structures global variation in human social organization.

Do human societies from around the world exhibit similarities in the way that they are structured, and show commonalities in the ways that they have evolved? These are long-standing questions that have proven difficult to answer. To test between competing hypotheses, we constructed a massive repository of historical and archaeological information known as "Seshat: Global History Databank." We systematically coded data on 414 societies from 30 regions around the world spanning the last 10,000 years.

Effects of an air pollution personal alert system on health service usage in a high-risk general population: a quasi-experimental study using linked data.

Background: There is no evidence to date on whether an intervention alerting people to high levels of pollution is effective in reducing health service utilisation. We evaluated alert accuracy and the effect of a targeted personal air pollution alert system, airAware, on emergency hospital admissions, emergency department attendances, general practitioner contacts and prescribed medications.

Methods: Quasi-experimental study describing accuracy of alerts compared with pollution triggers; and comparing relative changes in healthcare utilisation in the intervention group to those who did not sign-up.

A prospective observational trial of pelvic floor muscle training for female stress urinary incontinence.

Objective: To assess the impact of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) on bladder neck mobility in a prospective observational study, and to correlate any observed changes with objective, standardized outcome measures of the severity of stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Patients And Methods: Women with the symptom of SUI were recruited prospectively over a 3-year period from a tertiary referral urogynaecology clinic in a teaching hospital. A group of 97 treatment-naive women complaining of SUI and confirmed as having urodynamic SUI on video-urodynamic assessment agreed to participate.

Outcome measures in urogynaecology: the clinicians' perspective.

There is currently a paucity of information regarding clinicians' expectations of treatment and whether their perception of bothersome symptoms is similar to that of the patient. Equally there is often a dichotomy of opinion when comparing clinician-centered evaluation with that of patients. The objectives of this study were to determine clinicians' expectations following treatment, to assess the methods of outcome assessment used in the clinical and research settings, and to compare clinician's expectations with those of patients.

Current trends in management of ectopic pregnancy in the United Kingdom.

The potential advantages of laparoscopic management of ectopic pregnancy include lower morbidity, faster return to work, and less impact on reproductive health. This study aimed to investigate the current management of ectopic pregnancy in the United Kingdom. Thirty-five per cent of ectopic pregnancies are currently managed laparoscopically.

Can ultrasound replace ambulatory urodynamics when investigating women with irritative urinary symptoms?

Objective: To determine whether transvaginal ultrasound measurement of bladder wall thickness could replace ambulatory urodynamics when investigating women with lower urinary tract dysfunction not explained by conventional laboratory urodynamic studies.

Design: A blinded prospective study.

Setting: Tertiary referral unit in a London teaching hospital.

A new intravaginal device for stress incontinence in women.

Objective: To compare two versions of the same type of disposable intravaginal device (the Conveen Continence Guard, CCG, and the Contrelle Continence Tampon, CCT, Coloplast a/s, Humlebaek, Denmark) for treating stress incontinence in women.

Patients And Methods: Women with the predominant symptom of stress incontinence were recruited from four centres in Denmark, Australia and the UK. The women were assessed using a 24-h pad-test, uroflowmetry, postvoid residual urine volume and a voiding diary before treatment, and after 5 weeks using each of the two devices.

The impact of the menstrual cycle on urinary symptoms and the results of urodynamic investigation.

Four hundred and eighty-three consecutive women referred for videocystourethrography completed a structured questionnaire about their menstrual status and urinary symptoms. Women were included in the study if they were premenopausal, had a regular menstrual cycle and were not taking hormonal therapy. One hundred and thirty-three women satisfied the inclusion criteria of whom 55 (41%) complained that their urinary symptoms were cyclical.

Retropubic urethropexy (Burch colposuspension).

Many varied procedures have been described for the surgical treatment of female stress incontinence. Over the years these have had enthusiastic proponents, but not until the recent publication of two systematic literature reviews did their relative efficacies become apparent. At present it would appear that open suprapubic urethropexy is the current 'gold standard' procedure.

A comparison of the objective and subjective outcomes of colposuspension for stress incontinence in women.

Objectives: To investigate the impact of colposuspension for stress incontinence on the symptoms and quality of life of women undergoing both primary and repeat surgery for genuine stress incontinence and in addition to assess the use of a condition specific quality of life questionnaire as an outcome measure following surgery.

Design: Prospective case series: videocystourethrography performed before and between six and twelve months after surgery. Validated condition specific quality of life (QoL) questionnaires completed by women before and six to twelve months after surgery.

Genuine stress incontinence: colpocystourethropexy versus sling procedures.

Both colpocystourethropexy (colposuspension) and sling operations have been shown to be effective in treating female stress incontinence. The present review discusses the literature available and compares the results and complications of both procedures. Colposuspension can give excellent results as both primary and secondary surgery.