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In this special issue dedicated to surgical urology we discuss several aspects of our profession with 8 original articles and 4 reviews. Calculi in the urinary tract are a major topic in day-to-day practice. A comparison between stone fragmentation and dusting using laser technology is discussed.

First-in-man Safety and Efficacy of the ClearRing Implant for the Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.

Background: Although effective for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) can be associated with side effects including prolonged recovery, storage and voiding symptoms, and a risk of acute urinary retention.

Objective: To test a new minimally invasive device for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to BPH, involving implantation of a C-shaped nitinol ring (ClearRing) in a circular incision in the prostatic tissue using an electrocuting blade over a dilatation balloon.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a multicenter single-arm clinical trial involving 29 men with severe symptomatic BPH.

[MOLECULAR MARKERS FOR PROSTATE CANCER].

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequent malignancy and the second cause of death from malignancy in men in the Western world. Prostatic Specific Antigen (PSA) has been widely used as a possible marker for PCa for the last three decades, but its significant limitations are known, especially its lack of an exact cutoff level for diagnosis of PCa. Imprudent use of PSA has led to over-diagnosis and over-treatment in men with low risk PCa, not significant for survival.

Long-term outcomes of a randomized controlled trial comparing thermochemotherapy with mitomycin-C alone as adjuvant treatment for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Objective: • To present long-term efficacy data of intravesical thermochemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone with mitomycin-C (MMC) randomly administered to patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) as an adjuvant treatment after complete transurethral resection.

Patients And Methods: • In all, 83 patients with intermediate-/high-risk NMIBC, following complete transurethral resection, were randomly assigned to receive either intravesical thermochemotherapy by means of Synergo® (Medical Enterprises, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) or intravesical chemotherapy alone, for prophylaxis of tumour recurrence. • Two doses of MMC (20 mg dissolved in 50 mL distilled water administered throughout two consecutive sessions) was used as the chemotherapeutic agent in both arms.

Long-term follow-up of patients with Stage T1 high-grade transitional cell carcinoma managed by Bacille Calmette-Guérin immunotherapy.

Objectives: To report the long-term outcome of patients with Stage T1 high-grade transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder treated initially by transurethral resection and adjuvant intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin.

Methods: From June 1984 to November 1995, 78 consecutive patients with Stage T1 high-grade bladder cancer underwent transurethral resection and adjuvant intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin therapy. The results at the interim follow-up (median 56 months) were reported in 1998.

Treatment program for erectile dysfunction in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

The present study assesses the effectiveness of our progressive treatment program for erectile dysfunction in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The study sample included 453 patients aged 36 to 91 years. Therapy in all patients was begun with sildenafil citrate 25 to 100 mg.

Urinary tract infection in men younger than 45 years of age: is there a need for urologic investigation?

Objectives: To determine in a prospective study whether urinary tract infection (UTI) in men younger than 45 years of age is associated with anomalies of the genitourinary tract that necessitate additional urologic evaluation. UTI in young men is uncommon. In these patients, it is customary to follow the same policy as that for children or older men and to routinely perform urologic investigations.