A single-operator experience using EchoLaser SoracteLiteTM for focal laser ablation of prostate cancer: One more arrow in the quiver for the conservative management of the disease.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients suffering prostate cancer (PCa) treated conservatively using 1064 nm laser energy for focal laser ablation (FLA). The patients included in the study were unsuitable for surgery or unwilling to receive external beam radiotherapy because they were afraid of the possible side effects of whole-gland therapies.

Methods: This study included patients with a diagnosis of nonmetastatic PCa who underwent FLA using SoracteLiteTM system.

Cavernosal hematoma mimicking priapism.

We present a case of corpus cavernosum hematoma mimicking priapism. A 42-year-old man presented to the emergency room with penile pain and partial erection. Examination revealed partial erection and palpable space-occupying lesion of the corpus cavernosum without lymphadenopathy.

Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility?

Objective: Infertility affects 15% of couples in fertile age. Male factor is a cause of infertility in almost half of cases, mainly due to oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT). The purpose of this study is to review the effects of nutritional supplements as medical treatment for idiopathic male infertility.

Glansectomy with split-thickness skin graft for the treatment of penile carcinoma.

Using our prospectively derived database, we identified 17 patients with squamous-cell carcinoma involving the glans penis, who were treated using organ-sparing surgery between March 2003 and January 2008. Of them, two were treated with partial glansectomy with primary glans closure, and 15 underwent total glans amputation and reconstruction of a new glans using a split-thickness skin graft (STSG). These 15 patients represent the subject of our study (mean age 51 years, range 42 to 59 years).

Low velocity gunshot wound to the penis.

A ricocheting 30-06 calibre bullet caused a low velocity penile injury in a 54-year-old man, shearing the right corpus cavernosum and crossing the ipsilateral thigh and gluteal muscles. Prompt surgical exploration with meticulous debridement and corporeal reconstruction through a degloving incision led to excellent cosmetic and functional results.

Long-term followup after elective testis sparing surgery for Leydig cell tumors: a single center experience.

Purpose: Although most Leydig cell tumors are benign, radical orchiectomy is currently considered the standard therapy. We retrospectively analyzed the long-term followup of a series of patients with Leydig cell tumors electively treated with testis sparing surgery.

Materials And Methods: Between November 1990 and December 2005, 17 consecutive patients with Leydig cell tumors underwent testis sparing surgery on an elective basis.

Testicular metastasis as isolated recurrence after radical prostatectomy. A first case.

Prostate cancer synchronously or metachronously metastasizing to the testis is a rare finding. We herein report on the first case of a solitary testicular metastasis from an organ-confined prostate cancer, diagnosed 6 months after a radical prostatectomy, without evidence of previous or concomitant biochemical and local recurrence.

Role of pharmacologic rehabilitation in the recovery of sexual function following radical prostatectomy.

Aim: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of pharmacological postoperative sexual rehabilitation in the recovery of erectile function following radical retropubic prostatectomy.

Methods: Following radical retropubic prostatectomy 113 patients were divided into 2 groups: 77 (group 1) underwent pharmacologic rehabilitation with intracavernous PGE1 starting with 5 mg once or twice weekly beginning 1 month after surgery, followed by oral sildenafil 50-100 mg twice a week after recovery of spontaneous erections, while 36 (group 2) acted as controls. The 2 groups were homogeneous for age and preoperative IIEF5 score, while nerve-sparing techniques were used more frequently in group 1.

Epistaxis after PDE-5 inhibitors misuse.

A 32-year-old male presented to our department for recurrent epistaxis during sexual intercourses. The patient controlled the bleeding each time with sponge packs and gauzes. During the consultation, he volunteered that the trigger for the epistaxis appeared to have been misuse of phosphodiesterase (PDE)-5 inhibitors, Viagra and Cialis.

Measurements of urinary bladder volume: comparison of five ultrasound calculation methods in volunteers.

Objectives: To assess the precision of five different calculation methods in real-time bladder volume measurement.

Material And Methods: Bladders from 10 medical staff volunteers were examined. Two examinations of each subject were performed by one examiner using the same ultrasound scannet Five different calculation algorithms were used on the frozen ultrasound pictures: the prolate ellipsoid method based on the formula: volume = length x width x heigth x 0.

Doppler ultrasonography in a young patient with penile Mondor's disease.

Objective: Mondor reported the first superficial venous thrombosis on the chest wall in 1939. This condition is usually a benign and self-limited process, requiring only symptomatic treatment. Mondor's disease of the penis is an uncommon condition, which usually involves the superficial dorsal veins, it was first described by Braun-Falco in 1955.

The use of prostatic intravesical protrusion correlated with uroflowmetry: a new method to measure obstruction in patients with LUTS due to BOO without using P/F studies.

Objectives: To detect obstruction in patients with LUTS suggestive of BPH comparing the prostatic intravesical protrusion detected by abdominal ultrasounds with uroflowmetry testing results with urodynamic study to make evidence of obstruction.

Material And Methods: A series of 25 patients (mean age 67.9 years) at the first visit for BPH problems, underwent to routine examination including: abdominal ultrasound examination, TRUS, uroflowmetry IPSS and QoL questionnaires and urodynamic evaluation.

Fine-needle and large-needle percutaneous aspiration biopsy of testicles in men with nonobstructive azoospermia: safety and diagnostic performance.

Objective: To assess by ultrasonography the safety of the association fine-needle aspiration (FNA) plus a new percutaneous large-needle aspiration biopsy technique (LNAB), and to compare the results obtained with the two techniques in the same testicle and with FNA in the two testicles of the same patient.

Design: Retrospective analysis of clinical, ultrasonographic, and pathologic data.

Setting: Clinical and academic research environment.

Evaluation of the cytokines in genital secretions of patients with chronic prostatitis.

Objectives: In order to identify a specific prostatic inflammation marker we have assayed IL-6 and IL-8 cytokines levels in the genital secretions of men suffering from chronic prostatitis symptoms.

Materials And Methods: 207 patients underwent the following tests IL-6 and IL-8 were assayed in the genital secretions (seminal plasma:n.101-and- expressed prostatic secretion (EPS):n.

Treatment satisfaction in patients with erectile dysfunction switching from prostaglandin E(1) intracavernosal injection therapy to oral sildenafil citrate.

Treatment satisfaction, subanalysed by demographic variables, was evaluated in patients switching from successful intracavernosal prostaglandin E(1) (PGE(1)) therapy to oral sildenafil citrate. The validated Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction questionnaire was administered at the end of PGE(1) therapy and after 12 weeks of sildenafil treatment in a multicentre, open-label study. Men with erectile dysfunction (n=176) who were switched from stable PGE(1) therapy to sildenafil (25-100 mg) were equally satisfied with onset of action, duration of action, and confidence in ability to engage in sexual activity, but expressed greater overall treatment satisfaction with sildenafil (P<0.

Large-needle aspiration biopsy for the preoperative selection of follicular adenoma diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration as a microfollicular nodule or suspected cancer.

The preoperative fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytologic diagnoses of microfollicular nodule and suspected cancer include nodules that yield histologic results of typically benign lesions, nodular hyperplasia and follicular adenomas, and differentiated thyroid cancer postoperatively. We reviewed the clinical and pathologic data for patients with palpable thyroid nodules with these two cytologic diagnoses; nodules were also examined by large-needle aspiration biopsy (LNAB) to assess whether the distinction achieved by LNAB in pure microfollicular or mixed microfollicular-macrofollicular nodules could be used preoperatively to better predict the diagnosis of follicular adenoma. One hundred fourteen nodules of this type were excised.

Assessment of trans, trans-muconic acid in human seminal plasma.

Trans, trans-muconic acid (tt-MA) is one of the most important metabolites of benzene, a pollutant ubiquitously distributed in ambient air and classified in 1982 as a group I carcinogen. For its sensitivity and specificity, tt-MA excreted in urine is considered a good biological marker of benzene exposure. In this study, seminal tt-MA levels in occupationally nonexposed subjects (n = 32) have been determined.

[Unexplained male infertility and testicular microlithiasis].

In this study we analyse the frequency of testicular microlithiasis in a group of otherwise infertile healthy men, visited at the Andrology Service of Prato Hospital. Here the ultrasound machine is located in the ambulatory and it is possible to use it during the first visit of the patient, as we have done in 250 consecutive infertile men. This examination, easy and not invasive, has been performed to evaluate the pampiniform plexus to find possible varicocele, epydidimis for obstructive signs and testes for the presence or absence of parenchymal calcifications or masses.

[Tridimensional ultrasonography in andrology].

Three-dimensional ultrasound has already been employed to improve detection and characterization of the masses in various organs. The system can also be expected to improve qualitative evaluation of vessel pathology. Three-dimensional ultrasound could offer an additional contribution even in Andrology, in at least three fields: in the best evaluation of the anatomical structures; in most accurate measurement of the volumes of the organs; in the study of the Peyronie's disease, for the availability of the coronal plain.

Large-needle aspiration biopsy for the preoperative selection of palpable thyroid nodules diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration as a microfollicular nodule or suspected cancer.

The palpable thyroid nodules with a fine-needle aspiration (FNA) diagnosis of microfollicular nodule or suspected cancer usually are excised; however, most of them are proved benign by postoperative histologic examination. We reviewed the clinical and pathologic data for patients with thyroid nodules with an FNA diagnosis of microfollicular nodule or suspected cancer; nodules also were examined by large-needle aspiration biopsy (LNAB) to assess whether the distinction achieved by LNAB into pure microfollicular or mixed microfollicular-macrofollicular nodules could be used preoperatively to better predict malignancy. One hundred fourteen nodules of this type were excised.

Final height, gonadal function and bone mineral density of adolescent males with central precocious puberty after therapy with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues.

Unlabelled: Few data are available on the outcome of boys with central precocious puberty (CPP) treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues. We report on final height, endocrine and exocrine testicular function, and bone mineral density (BMD) in nine males (age 16.7 +/- 1.

Frequency and determinants of erectile dysfunction in Italy.

Objective: To analyze the prevalence and risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED) in Italy in a cross-sectional study.

Methods: Eligible for the study were men aged 18 years or more, randomly identified by 143 general practitioners among their registered patients during the period January 1996 to February 1997. ED was defined as the impossibility to achieve and maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance.

Reproductive capacity of spermatozoa from men with testicular failure.

Controversial reports have been published about the influence of sperm source and of the underlying testicular pathology on success rates of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In this controlled study, ICSI treatment cycles with testicular spermatozoa from men with obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia were compared with ICSI ejaculated sperm cycles with semen parameters < or = 5 x 10(6)/ml and < or = 10% progressive motility. The control cases were matched for female age, rank of trial, female basal follicle-stimulating hormone serum concentrations and close proximity to the study group's procedure.

A percutaneous large-needle aspiration biopsy technique for histologic examination of the testis in infertile patients.

Objective: To describe a relatively new percutaneous large-needle aspiration biopsy technique for histologic examination of the testis in infertile patients.

Design: Retrospective analysis of clinical and pathologic data.

Setting: Clinical and academic research environment.