Fournier's gangrene: a modern analysis of predictors of outcomes.

Background: Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis that carries a significant morbidity and mortality. The present study sought to identify the predisposing factors related to FG and validate the Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI) score as a prognostic tool in the care of the Fournier's patient.

Methods: Medstar Washington Hospital Center records were searched from January 2003 to February 2015 for all patients with a diagnosis code of FG, n=42.

Robotic-assisted prostatectomy and open radical retropubic prostatectomy for locally-advanced prostate cancer: multi-institution comparison of oncologic outcomes.

Purpose: Robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) offers reportedly comparable oncologic outcomes for localized disease compared with open radical retropubic prostatectomy (ORRP). However, the oncologic efficacy of RALP in locally-advanced prostate cancer (PCa) is less clear. We report and compare our experience with RALP and ORRP in men with locally advanced PCa.

Laparoscopic repair of inguinal cystocele using cystoscopic light test.

Objective: To describe how the cystoscopic light test aids in the repair of inguinal bladder herniation.

Methods: After the diagnosis of a bladder herniation into the right inguinal canal using intravenous pyelography, laparoscopic repair was planned. A cystoscope was manipulated into the defect while turning off the laparoscopic light intra-abdominally.

Bilateral testicular adrenal rests after bilateral adrenalectomies in a cushingoid patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease.

We report a case of bilateral testicular masses in a 25-year-old man with von Hippel-Lindau disease presenting with cushingoid symptoms. His medical history was significant for bilateral adrenalectomies secondary to pheochromocytomas, and he began steroid therapy at that time. After exhaustive endocrinologic, radiographic, and physical examinations, the testicular masses were postulated to be active adrenal rest tissue.

Update on minimally invasive approaches to kidney tumors.

Renal tumors are being detected at increasing rates because of widespread use of modern imaging techniques such as ultrasonography and computed tomography. Typically, these tumors, many of which are discovered incidentally, tend to be small and are confined to the kidney. Advances in ablative and imaging technology have led to the application of minimally invasive therapy in the treatment of small renal tumors.

Hereditary kidney cancer.

Significant advances have been made in the understanding of the genetic basis of familial renal neoplasia. Identification of key genes in the pathogenesis of various hereditary renal cancer syndromes has provided opportunities to screen family members at risk and to explore the significance of these genetic abnormalities in the development and genesis of much more common sporadic counterparts. As researchers continue to delineate critical carcinogenic pathways and accumulate expansive knowledge on oncogenic mechanisms driving cancer initiation and progression at the cellular and molecular levels, this information will be integrated and translated into effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that will dictate clinical management of all renal cancers.

Prostate cancer in Klinefelter syndrome during hormonal replacement therapy.

Prostate cancer detection is a rare occurrence in patients with Klinefelter syndrome, in whom chronically low circulating androgen levels are common findings. Administration of exogenous testosterone has increasingly been used to treat young adolescents diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome and documented androgen deficiency. Although testosterone replacement in adult patients has been associated with prostatic enlargement, it remains unknown whether chronic supplementation of exogenous testosterone to pubescent males with hypogonadism results in early prostate carcinogenesis.

Surgical management of multi-organ visceral tumors in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease: a single stage approach.

Purpose: We assessed surgical feasibility of a 1-stage multi-organ approach for multiple visceral tumors in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.

Materials And Methods: A total of 14 men and 15 women with von Hippel-Lindau disease underwent simultaneous multi-organ surgery for multiple adrenal, renal and pancreatic tumors at the National Cancer Institute between 1988 and 2001. Perioperative and followup data were analyzed retrospectively.