Short- and Medium-Term Outcomes Assessment of Urethral Prostatic Lift (UroLift) as a Minimally Invasive Treatment for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in a Tertiary Care Centre.

Introduction And Aim:  Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the enlargement and overgrowth of the prostate leading to the compression of the urethra and resulting in obstruction to the outflow of urine. Prostatic urethral lift (UroLift) is a budding minimally invasive technique that utilises mechanical manipulation of the prostate tissue so that the urethra is free from compression, thereby creating a channel for the outflow of urine. The aim of the audit was to assess the short- to medium-term outcomes in our centre in terms of improvement in symptoms, quality of life (QoL) and complication rates.

Autoantibody prevalence and lupus characteristics in a unique African American population.

Objective: The Gullah population of the Sea Islands of South Carolina is a unique group of African Americans who, due to geographic and cultural factors, remained isolated with minimal genetic admixture until the 1950s. Because of the unique homogeneous nature of the Gullah, we sought to define the genetic and environmental factors contributing to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in this population.

Methods: Using data from our ongoing cohort study of lupus in the Gullah population, which we established in 2003, disease characteristics and serologic profiles were summarized for 184 patients with SLE, 144 unaffected first-degree relatives, and 144 matched unrelated, unaffected control subjects.