The gatekeeper disparity--why do some medical schools send more medical students into urology?

Purpose: Urology continues to be a highly desirable specialty despite decreasing exposure of students to urology in American medical schools. We assessed how American medical schools compare to each other in regard to the number of students that each sends into urological training. We evaluated the reasons why some medical schools consistently send more students into urology than others.

Female bladder cancer: incidence, treatment, and outcome.

Purpose Of Review: Women are generally less likely to develop bladder cancer compared with men; however, once they acquire this disease, they have a less favorable prognosis. In this review, we describe our current understanding of the relationship between sex and bladder cancer incidence and outcomes and discuss the most recent developments in this area of research.

Recent Findings: Despite some evidence suggesting involvement of hormonal factors in bladder cancer carcinogenesis, the exact mechanisms responsible for increased bladder cancer incidence in men are still incompletely understood.

Lost and now found: retained straight catheter for 20 years.

A literature review of PubMed reveals that 1 case report is found of a retained Foley catheter for 3 years. We report a case of a straight catheter lost in the urethra and forgotten for 20 years and its safe surgical removal. The calcified straight catheter was removed through a perineal urethrostomy and incision at the meatus and fossa navicularis.

Commentary: the role of cytologic analysis of voided urine in the work-up of asymptomatic microhematuria.

Microscopic hematuria is a common finding in patients presenting to both primary care doctors as well as urologists. Sources of microscopic hematuria include infection, stones, inflammatory disorders as well as cancer of the genitourinary tract, particularly urothelial cancer. A primary focus in the urologic workup of hematuria is to rule out cancer.