Bacteruria and Urinary Tract Infections in the Elderly.

Both urinary tract infection (UTI) and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) are common problems among elderly adults and represent a significant health care burden. Despite their frequency, differentiating between ASB and true UTI remains controversial among health care providers. Several challenges exist in the evaluation of urinary symptoms in the elderly patient.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging during urodynamic testing identifies brain structures initiating micturition.

Purpose: Normal voiding in neurologically intact patients is triggered by the release of tonic inhibition from suprapontine centers, allowing the pontine micturition center to trigger the voiding reflex. Supraspinal mechanisms of voluntary voiding in humans are just beginning to be described via functional neuroimaging. We further elucidated brain activity processes during voiding using functional magnetic resonance imaging in normal females to gain better understanding of normal voiding as well as changes that may occur in voiding dysfunction.

Objective Evaluation of Overactive Bladder: Which Surveys Should I Use?

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common condition that affects many adults, and prevalence increases with age in both men and women. It is characterized by symptoms of urinary frequency and urgency with or without urge incontinence in the absence of another proven etiology. As a diagnosis based solely on urinary symptoms, proper evaluation of OAB often depends on the use of psychometrically validated questionnaires to assess symptom severity and degree of bother.

Renal deterioration in multiple sclerosis patients with neurovesical dysfunction.

Objectives: Our aims were to determine the prevalence of renal ultrasound (RUS) abnormalities over time in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

Methods: Data were examined retrospectively from MS patients with LUTS, from 2000-2009. Study inclusion requirements were both baseline urodynamics (UD) and RUS data, with followup RUS at ≥ 12 months.

Complex rectovaginal fistulas after pelvic organ prolapse repair with synthetic mesh: a multidisciplinary approach to evaluation and management.

Objectives: The use of synthetic mesh for transvaginal pelvic organ prolapse (POP) repair is associated with the rare complication of mesh erosion into hollow viscera. This study presents a single-institution series of complex rectovaginal fistulas (RVFs) after synthetic mesh-augmented POP repair, as well as strategies for identification and management.

Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained for this retrospective study.

A modification to augmentation cystoplasty with catheterizable stoma for neurogenic patients: technique and long-term results.

Objective: To evaluate the use of a modified Indiana continent urinary reservoir, the Indiana augmentation cystoplasty (IAC), for patients with neurogenic bladder (NGB). NGB with incontinence can be devastating for patients with neurologic illness. Augmentation cystoplasty with a continent catheterizable stoma creates a continent, low-pressure storage system, with catheterizable cutaneous stoma, leading to decreased urinary tract morbidity and increased quality of life.

Demographic and urodynamic factors associated with persistent OAB after anterior compartment prolapse repair.

Introduction: Overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms often accompany pelvic organ prolapse. While there seems to be a relationship between symptom resolution and anatomic repair, a subset of patients will not experience improvement in OAB symptoms. Our aim was to identify preoperative demographic and urodynamic (UD) parameters related to persistence of OAB symptoms after anterior vaginal prolapse (AVP) repair.

Differential diagnosis of chronic pelvic pain in women: the urologist's approach.

Chronic pelvic pain in women can be caused by a host of gynecological, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, neurologic, as well as urologic disorders. An initial broad differential diagnosis is essential. At times, overlapping symptoms and vague physical findings necessitate a multidisciplinary diagnostic approach.

Clarifying the role of urodynamics in the preoperative evaluation of stress urinary incontinence.

It has not yet been definitively demonstrated that preoperative evaluation of women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) with urodynamic testing (UDS) enhances surgical outcomes. Nonetheless, UDS is frequently utilized in the assessment of women with SUI in the hopes that results will shed light on preoperative risk factors for failure or postoperative voiding dysfunction. Poorer outcomes for stress incontinence surgery are primarily attributed to intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD), detrusor overactivity (DO), and voiding dysfunction.

Benign masses of the female periurethral tissues and anterior vaginal wall.

Due to their rarity, benign masses of the periurethral tissues and anterior vaginal wall are poorly understood. Arriving at the proper evaluation and treatment is challenging because many of these masses have similar presenting signs and symptoms, as well as overlapping differential diagnoses. The literature regarding these lesions mainly consists of level III evidence, mostly involving case reports and series.

Regression of inflammatory pseudotumor of the bladder in a child with medical management.

Inflammatory pseudotumor of the bladder is a benign proliferative lesion of the submucosal stroma that cannot be distinguished from malignant tumors of the bladder either endoscopically or radiographically. Although benign, the proliferative nature of the inflammatory pseudotumor histopathology has led others to recommend open surgical removal or complete transurethral resection for definitive treatment. A limited number of case reports have described inflammatory pseudotumor of the bladder in either adults or children.

Case-matched comparison of contemporary radiation therapy to surgery in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer.

Purpose: Few studies critically compare current radiotherapy techniques to surgery for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, despite an urgent need to determine which approach offers superior cancer control. Our objective was to compare rates of biochemical relapse-free survival (BFS) and surrogates of disease specific survival among men with high risk adenocarcinoma of the prostate as a function of treatment modality.

Methods And Materials: Retrospective data from 409 men with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) > or =10 or Gleason 7-10 or Stage > or =T2b cancer treated uniformly at one university between March 1988 and December 2000 were analyzed.

An improved approach to followup care for the urological patient: drop-in group medical appointments.

Purpose: To increase prompt access to routine office visits the concept of the group appointment was developed in the primary care setting. Drop-in group medical appointments have been piloted at our department. We hypothesized that 1) efficiency could be improved by seeing 6 to 14 patients at 1 appointment, 2) access to appointment times would increase and 3) patient satisfaction would be enhanced with 60 minutes of didactic contact and discussion with the urologist.

Surgery or radiation: what is the optimal management for locally advanced prostate cancer?

Introduction: To date, randomized trials comparing radiotherapy to surgery for adenocarcinoma of the prostate are few. Lacking, are randomized comparisons between treatment modalities for the patient with high-risk locally advanced disease. Hence, there is a need to determine which approach offers superior results in these patients who comprise a significant proportion of those dying of prostate cancer.