Publications by authors named "Emerson Zani"

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and harms of DES in treating prostate cancer compared to other forms of androgen deprivation therapy (orchiectomy, LHRH agonists, and anti-androgens).

Methods: We included clinical trials comparing DES with other forms of ADT (bicalutamide, flutamide, LHRH agonists, or orchiectomy) in PCa treatment. The primary outcomes were overall survival, cancer-specific survival, and progression-free survival, and secondary outcomes were cardiovascular effects.

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Purpose: After a successful pyeloplasty at 3 to 6 months, the question remains whether children need a long follow-up.

Methods: The medical charts of patients with long-term follow-up (> 5 years), who underwent dismembered pyeloplasty for uretero-pelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) from May 1998 to May 2007, excluding those with bilateral UPJO, solitary kidney, associated vesicoureteral reflux or other abnormalities, and inconclusive renogram due to poor renal function, were retrospectively reviewed. Ultrasonography, differential renal function (DRF, DMSA), and renal drainage on diuretic renography (diethylene-triamine-pentaacetate technetium-99 or DTPA-Tc99) were performed at 3 and 6 months every year.

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Background. Protective factors against Gleason upgrading and its impact on outcomes after surgery warrant better definition. Patients and Methods.

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Objectives: To identify predictors of outcomes in patients with localized prostate cancer treated with iodine-125 brachytherapy in a longitudinal uncontrolled study.

Methods: Between 2000 and 2011, 560 histologically confirmed patients were treated with brachytherapy of whom 305 with ≥24-month follow-up and localized tumor were evaluated after exclusion of those locally advanced and under androgen ablation.

Results: Patients' mean age was 63.

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Purpose: A detailed analysis in the iconography and pictorial appearance of the scene of the "Prophet Jonah" painted by the artist Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between the years 1508 and 1512.

Materials And Methods: Literature review on the Italian Renaissance period and the life of Michelangelo Buonarroti and analysis of historical aspects of the evolution of studies of human anatomy in this period and the works of the artist.

Results: A comparative analysis of the representation of the figure of the fish on the left thigh of "Jonah " with a cross section of penis shows a curious similarity.

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Purpose: Positive impact of weight loss on sexual function and hormones has been demonstrated, and male fertility in this scenario is to be better defined. We evaluated the impact of lifestyle modifications and gastric bypass on sperm quality.

Methods: We prospectively studied 20 morbidly obese men during 24 months, randomized for intervention: lifestyle modifications (exercise and diet) for 4 months and subsequently gastric bypass (n = 10); and control: follow-up (n = 10).

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Background: Transrectal prostate biopsy (TRPB) is a well established procedure used to obtain tissue for the histological diagnosis of carcinoma of the prostate. Despite the fact that TRPB is generally considered a safe procedure, it may be accompanied by traumatic and infective complications, including asymptomatic bacteriuria (bacteria in the urine), urinary tract infection (UTI), transitory bacteremia (bacteria in the blood), fever episodes, and sepsis (pathogenic microorganisms or their toxins in the blood). Although infective complications after TRPB are well known, there is uncertainty about the necessity and effectiveness of routine prophylactic antibiotics and their adverse effects, as well as a clear lack of standardization.

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Purpose: The presence of neuroendocrine differentiation may play a key role in androgen-independent tumor progression. The prognostic significance of plasma chromogranin-A (CgA) was assessed in a series of consecutive patients with high-risk prostate cancer (PCa).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-three patients presenting high-risk PCa and 8 healthy individuals, as control group, had their blood samples collected to evaluate CgA, free and total prostate specific antigen, and free and total testosterone in a pilot study.

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Background And Purpose: With the widespread early detection programs for prostate cancer, there has been a downward stage migration and a marked decrease in the percentage of men with seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) compared with previous data. We evaluated clinicopathologic findings that are associated with SVI to select patients for potential seminal vesicle-sparing surgery.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed our radical prostatectomy database from 1997 to 2006 to evaluate the incidence and clinical correlates of SVI.

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Despite the development of new technologies, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is still considered the gold standard for surgical treatment of the benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). In general, new minimally invasive treatments have not demonstrated better outcomes than TURP in evidence based medicine trials published to date, and should be reserved for patients who prefer to avoid surgery, who are unsuitable candidates for surgery or who no longer respond favorably to medication. TUMT and TUNA appears to be more effective than medical therapy but less effective than TURP.

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Purpose: to compare urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction symptoms reflecting quality of life and the willingness to undergo treatment again in patients treated by radical retropubic prostatectomy and low dose radiation (LDR) brachytherapy.

Materials And Methods: from July 1992 to November 2001, 158 patients with clinical localized prostate cancer were treated by radical retropubic prostatectomy with or without nerve sparring or LDR brachytherapy. To all the 158 patients we mailed a self-reporting questionnaire with 5 questions to access sexual function, 4 questions for urinary continence, and 2 for the satisfaction with the treatment and willingness to undergo treatment again.

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