[Transurethral thermotherapy of the prostate--a very promising treatment method for benign prostatic hyperplasia].

Transurethral resection of the prostate remains the most common method for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Due to unsatisfactory results in about 18% of the patients new methods to treat BPH have been developed. We evaluated 45 patients 6 and 12 months after transurethral microwave thermotherapy using the Prostatron device with Prostasoft 2.

Minor residual fragments after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy: spontaneous clearance or risk factor for recurrent stone formation?

The aim of this study was to follow the fate of residual stone fragments (RF) < 5 mm after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) over a sufficiently long period to determine how many are spontaneously cleared and after what time interval. A further aim was to clarify their role in clinical outcome and stone recurrence and regrowth. The clinical and radiologic data of 266 patients were analyzed.

Impact of minimal lymph node metastasis on long-term prognosis after radical prostatectomy.

Objectives: In the management of clinically localized prostate cancer, understanding is of major concern. There is a considerable therapeutic dilemma in those patients in whom staging lymphadenectomy prior to intended radical prostatectomy reveals lymph node metastases.

Methods: Pelvic lymph node dissection and radical retropubic prostatectomy were performed in 132 consecutive patients.

[Primary detection of malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis using the BMA-120 monoclonal antibody].

Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis is an extremely rare tumor, with only 40 cases previously described in the literature. Treatment consists of inguinal orchiectomy with close-follow up [1]. Asbestose exposure, trauma and hydrocele have been implicated as risk factors.

Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein: role in inhibition and promotion of renal calcium oxalate stone formation studied with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein (THP) from healthy probands inhibits the precipitation of calcium oxalate, whereas THP from individuals who repeatedly develop calcium oxalate stones has no effect or even promotes precipitation. Using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, we found a structural differentiation between these functionally different THPs: a decisive difference in sialic acid content. Quantitative analysis for sialic acid showed the same results.