Objective measurements of the penile angulation are significantly different than self-estimated magnitude among patients with penile curvature.

Introduction: The study was aimed to assess the presence of actual differences between the objective and the perceived magnitude of a curvature between patients affected by Peyronie's disease (PD) and congenital penile curvature (CPC).

Materials And Methods: Wee analysed a cohort of 88 consecutive patients seeking medical help for either CPC or PD. All patients were invited to provide a self-made drawing of their penis in erection in order to obtain self-provided description of the deformity.

Unreliability of the Duplex Scan in Diagnosing Corporeal Venous Occlusive Disease in Young Healthy Men With Erectile Deficiency.

Objective: To define the role of cavernosal venous occlusive dysfunction (CVOD) as the only cause of erectile dysfunction (ED).

Materials And Methods: Patients meeting the CVOD criteria without any risk factors for organic ED were randomized into 2 groups; the end-diastolic velocity (EDV), peak systolic velocity (PSV), and resistive index (RI) of their cavernosal arteries were assessed using color duplex Doppler ultrasound (CDDU) after intracavernous injection (ICI) of 10 µg alprostadil. Group 1 (153 patients) underwent repeated CDDU + ICI assessments (a maximum of 3 rounds).

Differences in Cavernosal Artery Parameters According to Different Anatomic Sampling Locations During the Diagnosis of Vascular Erectile Dysfunction Using Duplex Ultrasound.

Objective: To establish a standard location for examining penile cavernosal arteries (CAs) using dynamic duplex Doppler ultrasound (PDDU) examination in the diagnosis of non-arterial erectile dysfunction (ED) or arterial insufficiency.

Patients And Methods: Two groups of 105 patients each were enrolled. The first group (age 56.

Intralesional Injection of Hyaluronic Acid in Patients Affected With Peyronie's Disease: Preliminary Results From a Prospective, Multicenter, Pilot Study.

Introduction: Hyaluronic acid has been shown to be efficacious in decreasing scar formation, inflammation, and oxidative stress.

Aim: To assess the efficacy of intralesional injection of hyaluronic acid in patients affected by Peyronie's disease.

Methods: In this prospective, single-arm, self-controlled, interventional, multicenter pilot study, 65 patients underwent a 10-week cycle of weekly intraplaque injections with hyaluronic acid (0.

Genital Lichen Sclerosus in Male Patients: A New Treatment with Polydeoxyribonucleotide.

Lichen sclerosus (LS) is an inflammatory and chronic disease that causes itching, pain, dysuria, urinary retention, dyspareunia and sexual dysfunction, in both men and women. The first line pharmacological treatment is based on the use of topical steroids, which have proved their efficacy in 60-70% of cases but with a high rate of relapses in time (50-80% of the patients of both sexes). The purpose of our non-randomised prospective pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a new loco regional therapy with polydeoxyribonucleotides (PDRN) in the treatment of male genital LS.

Resolution of erectile dysfunction after an andrological visit in a selected population of patients affected by psychogenic erectile dysfunction.

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether some patients with psychogenic erectile dysfunction (PED) who chose psychotherapy spontaneously improved their sexual function immediately after diagnosis. Two hundred eighty-five patients with PED were retrospectively studied. Complete resolution of PED was analyzed regarding age, primary or secondary PED, marital status, domestic status, prevailing attitude of the female partner to the dysfunction, duration of their partnership, social status, duration of PED, International Index of Erectile Function score, and prevailing attitude of the patient after a diagnosis of PED.

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of young patients with Peyronie's disease: a retrospective study.

The average age of men affected by Peyronie's disease (PD) is approximately 50-55 years, but cases have been reported even in adolescence. Several studies have already investigated the presence of PD in young men, and these studies reported a PD prevalence that varies between 1.5% and 10.

Subsequent impaired fertility (with or without sperm worsening) in men who had fathered children after a left varicocelectomy: A novel population?

Objectives: The objective of this paper was to assess whether the beneficial effects of a varicocelectomy on fertility are transitory or definitive after a first fathering.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective study which involved seven andrological centers. The files of 2223 patients who underwent subinguinal ligation of a high grade left varicocele for (oligo)±(astheno)±(terato)-spermia and infertility between January 1(st), 2002 and January 1(st) 2013 were reviewed.

Long-term multimodal therapy (verapamil associated with propolis, blueberry, vitamin E and local diclofenac) on patients with Peyronie's disease (chronic inflammation of the tunica albuginea). Results of a controlled study.

Objective: to demonstrate the possible effectiveness of a long-term multimodal medical therapy in patients with Peyronie's disease (PD) we carried out a controlled study on 82 patients diagnosed with PD, whereas in the scientific literature the conservative treatment of this disease is much discussed.

Methods: 82 patients (mean age=53.6±10.

Multivariate analysis to predict letrozole efficacy in improving sperm count of non-obstructive azoospermic and cryptozoospermic patients: a pilot study.

We tested the hypothesis that letrozole increases sperm count in non-obstructive azoospermic or cryptozoospermic patients with a testosterone (T)/17-beta-2-oestradiol (E2) ratio <10. Forty-six patients with no chromosomal aberrations were randomized into two groups: 22 received letrozole 2.5 mg per day for 6 months (Group 1: 6 azoospermic + 16 cryptozoospermic patients), while 24 received a placebo (Group 2: 5 azoospermic + 19 cryptozoospermic patients).

Clinical evaluation of natural history of Peyronie's disease: our experience, old myths and new certainties.

Several studies describing the "natural history" of Peyronie's disease (PD) (Chronic Inflammation of the Tunica Albuginea-CITA) showed that untreated patients with PD seem to have spontaneous improvement. Because of these articles many physicians found to have a non-therapeutic behavior in case of PD. This paper tries to define the natural history of PD using penile dynamic duplex ultrasound evaluation in function of factors able to elicit fibrosis of the penis.

Improvement of chronic Peyronie's disease symptoms after diabetic compensation: a retrospective study.

Objective: To look for a link between compensation of diabetes in patients with uncompensated/undiagnosed diabetes with chronic Peyronie's disease (PD) and improvement of their PD symptoms.

Methods: Thirty-six nonsmoking patients with uncompensated diabetes and PD were studied. The plaque area and pain (ie, PD symptoms) were compared before and after a strict control of hemoglobin A1c and of glycemia at a timeframe of 37 ± 13 weeks.

Peironimev-Plus® in the treatment of chronic inflammation of tunica albuginea (Peyronie's disease). results of a controlled study.

Peyronie's Disease (PD) is a connective tissue disorder involving the growth of fibrous plaques in penile corpora cavernosa (tunica albuginea). The conservative treatment is indicated in the development stage of PD for at least one year after diagnosis and in case of penile pain. This study was conducted to demonstrate the possible effectiveness of the new substances of Peironimev-plus®.

Reduction in sperm aneuploidy levels in severe oligoasthenoteratospermic patients after medical therapy: a preliminary report.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether medical therapy can reduce sperm aneuploidy levels and improve the results of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in patients with severe idiopathic oligoasthenoteratospermia (OAT). Thirty-three infertile couples requiring ICSI because of severe idiopathic OAT after at least one unsuccessful ICSI cycle were considered. Semen parameters (concentration, motility and morphology), the percentage of aneuploid sperm and the results of ICSI (the number of oocytes fertilized, embryos transferred, biochemical pregnancies, clinical pregnancies and live births) were compared before and after a 3-month course of treatment with L-carnitine 1 g given twice per day+acetyl-L-carnitine 500 mg given twice per day+one 30-mg cinnoxicam tablet every 4 days.

Association between Peyronie disease and low serum testosterone levels: detection and therapeutic considerations.

The aim of this paper was to find a link between Peyronie disease (PD) and bioavailable testosterone (bT)/free testosterone (fT) blood levels. Subjects with no erectile dysfunction were prospectively studied with respect to 3 parameters: differences in bT/fT between 106 PD patients and 99 healthy controls; differences in plaque area, penile curvature, and pain between 54 PD patients with low bT/fT and 52 PD patients with normal bT/fT; and differences in intraplaque verapamil efficacy between 20 hypogonadal PD patients supplemented with testosterone and 23 hypogonadal PD patients administered a placebo. Medical history, objective examination, and dynamic duplex scanning of the penis, both before and 8 months after the end of the therapy (ie, at the end of the study period), were used to assess PD.

Preliminary study of letrozole use for improving spermatogenesis in non-obstructive azoospermia patients with normal serum FSH.

We investigated whether letrozole (2.5 mg day(-1)) improves sperm count in non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients. Four men were included in this study, and they had folliculo-stimulating hormone and other hormone levels within the normal range and no varicoceles or chromosomal aberrations.

The number of spermatozoa collected with testicular sperm extraction is a novel predictor of intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcome in non-obstructive azoospermic patients.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between monitors of spermatogenesis and predictors of the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) undergoing testicular sperm extraction (TESE). Seventy-nine patients with NOA (mean age: 43.6±5.

Surgical management of acute pancreatitis in Italy: lessons from a prospective multicentre study.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the surgical treatment of acute pancreatitis in Italy and to assess compliance with international guidelines.

Methods: A series of 1173 patients in 56 hospitals were prospectively enrolled and their data analysed.

Results: Twenty-nine patients with severe pancreatitis underwent surgical intervention.

A study to sustain the hypothesis of the multiple genesis of oligoasthenoteratospermia in human idiopathic infertile males.

Interdependence between sperm concentration, motility, morphology, and the percentage of aneuploid sperm was explored to test whether oligoasthenoteratospermia (OAT) may have a multiple origin in idiopathic infertile males. A total of 174 men (age, 35.8 +/- 4.

Pilot study to determine improvements in subjective penile morphology and personal relationships following a Nesbit plication procedure for men with congenital penile curvature.

Aim: To determine whether the surgical straightening of congenital penile curvature can improve intromission comfort, penile features, personal relationships and psychogenic erectile dysfunction (ED).

Methods: Fifty-four patients (mean age 24 years, range 20-31 years) whose congenital penile deviation due to physiological curvature was>or=25 degrees, as measured on a graph, and who were experiencing penetration discomfort were assessed specifically for the present study. Of these, 14 patients suffered from psychogenic ED.

Smoking cessation at the clinical onset of chronic pancreatitis and risk of pancreatic calcifications.

Objective: Cigarette smoking is associated with a higher risk of developing chronic pancreatitis (CP) and increases the likelihood of developing pancreatic calcifications. The aim of this study was to know whether smoking cessation modifies the course of the disease.

Methods: Patients with CP who had been followed up for more than 6 years from clinical onset and who had not developed calcifications after 5 years were analyzed.

Open preliminary randomized prospective clinical trial of efficacy and safety of three different verapamil dilutions for intraplaque therapy of Peyronie's disease.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy and safety of three different dilutions of verapamil used in intraplaque injections in an attempt to reduce Peyronie's disease symptoms.

Methods: A total of 77 patients (age 48 +/- 9 years) with chronic Peyronie's disease were randomized into three groups, each receiving 12 intraplaque injections (1 injection every 2 weeks) of 10 mg verapamil in different dilutions. Group 1 (27 patients) received verapamil 10 mg/4 mL, group 2 (24 patients) received verapamil 10 mg/10 mL, and group 3 (26 patients) received verapamil 10 mg/20 mL.

Impact of smoking on patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis.

Objectives: Chronic pancreatitis is usually caused by heavy alcohol intake and, in many studies, also smoking. Because heavy drinkers usually smoke, making it difficult to separate the effects of these 2 factors, we thought to study the impact of smoking on the progression of nonalcoholic idiopathic chronic pancreatitis (ICP) METHODS: We used data from 83 patients with ICP in Switzerland and from 83 patients in Italy. We studied the impact of smoking on progression of disease as measured by the appearance of calcification and diabetes using Cox regression models.