Therapeutic strategies for uncomplicated cystitis in women.

Uncomplicated cystitis is affecting many women of all ages and has a great impact on the quality of life, especially in women suffering from recurrent, uncomplicated cystitis. By far the most frequent uropathogen, , may have acquired increasing resistance against a variety of oral antibiotics, which may differ between countries and regions. Therefore, local resistance data are important to be considered.

[Urolithiasis-Therapy and recurrence prevention taking into account gender-specific aspects].

The prevalence of urolithiasis is steadily increasing worldwide in both genders. Diet and lifestyle, such as the rising prevalence of obesity and other metabolic syndrome traits, are considered key factors in this trend. Gender differences as a result of interventional therapy for urolithiasis have not been observed.

Are there seasonal variations in renal colic in uric acid stone formers in Germany?

Purpose: Seasonal variations in renal colic have been described by many authors for different countries worldwide. In most studies, there was no differentiation with regard to stone composition. Recently, we demonstrated that there was no seasonal variation in renal colic and urine chemistry for calcium oxalate stone formers in Germany.

Recent advances in understanding and managing urolithiasis.

During the last few years, there has been relevant progress in both understanding and managing urolithiasis. Our knowledge of stone formation has changed; although the importance of urine biochemistry was questioned by several investigators years ago, the decisive role of cellular processes (induced by oxidative stress) and the renal papilla has only recently been generally accepted as the most important step in stone formation. For calcium oxalate urolithiasis, the formation of papillary calcifications plays a key role and is of prognostic relevance.

Imaging in pediatric urolithiasis-what's the best choice?

The incidence of urolithiasis increased dramatically during the last decades in adults as well as in children. Today, when a urinary stone is suspected, the imaging modality used most frequently is non-contrast enhanced computed tomography (NCCT). Due to the high sensitivity and specifity, NCCT is regarded as the gold standard.

Papillary calcifications: a new prognostic factor in idiopathic calcium oxalate urolithiasis.

Metabolic evaluation is not suitable to forecast the course of the disease in idiopathic calcium oxalate stone formation (iCaOxU). An important pathway in CaOx stone formation is the overgrowth on interstitial apatite papillary plaques. Therefore, we studied whether the extent of such plaques may be used as a prognostic factor in CaOxU.

Economics of stone disease/treatment.

Objectives: Urolithiasis is a considerable economic burden for health systems, especially in industrialised countries where the incidence of stone disease has increased during the last few decades, and probably will further increase for several reasons.

Methods: The survey was based on investigations in collaboration with a German health insurance company and on a literature search (PubMed, and the author's collection of proceedings of urolithiasis conferences: The keywords included economics, cost, urolithiasis, nephrolithiasis, renal stone disease, metaphylaxis, recurrence) during 1999-2011. In all, 1221 articles were found but only those cited here were sufficient for the purpose of the study.

Overweight and obesity: risk factors in calcium oxalate stone disease?

Introduction. Several studies showed an association of overweight and obesity with calcium oxalate stone disease (CaOx). However, there are no sufficient data on the influence of body weight on the course of the disease and the recurrence rate.

Urinary stone formers with hypocitraturia and 'normal' urinary pH are at high risk for recurrence.

Background: Citrate is one of the most important inhibitors in urolithiasis. Hypocitraturia is a common risk factor in stone formers. Citrate excretion is regulated - amongst others - by acidosis and protein intake.

Overweight, insulin resistance and blood pressure (parameters of the metabolic syndrome) in uric acid urolithiasis.

Overweight, arterial hypertension and disturbances of the carbohydrate metabolism are important parameters of the metabolic syndrome (MS). The most important factor regarding renal pathophysiology is insulin resistance resulting in alterations of urine acidification and low urine pH. Since low urine pH is the main risk factor for uric acid urolithiasis (UAU), UAU may be regarded as a renal manifestation of the MS.

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy in urological centres - the experience of the German Laparoscopic Working Group.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) performed in several German centres with different laparoscopic experience, as LA has become the gold-standard approach for benign surgical adrenal disorders; however, for solitary metastasis or primary adrenal cancer its precise role is uncertain.

Patients And Methods: The data of 363 patients who underwent a LA were prospectively collected in 23 centres. All centres were stratified into three groups according to their experience: group A (<10 LAs/year), group B (10-20 LAs/year) and group C (>20 LAs/year).

Clinical significance of uric acid dihydrate in urinary stones.

Uric acid crystallizes as an anhydrous compound (UAA), a dihydrate (UAD) or a mixture of both. A monohydrate form is very rare. About 20% of uric acid stones contain a significant amount (≥20%) UAD.

Improved ex vivo training model for percutaneous renal surgery.

Percutaneous endourological procedures require an advanced level of skills. To facilitate the training of the proper technique, some years ago we developed a porcine ex vivo model for training percutaneous endourological procedures. When dilating the percutaneous tract silicone and gelatine were frequently damaged thus inhibiting proper working with the endoscopes.

Efficacy and safety of TachoSil as haemostatic treatment versus standard suturing in kidney tumour resection: a randomised prospective study.

Objective: Elective nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has gained general acceptance as an alternative to radical nephrectomy. To achieve haemostasis without risk of local ischaemia and necrosis of kidney parenchyma after standard haemostatic suturing, we investigated TachoSil's efficacy and safety as atraumatic haemostatic treatment after kidney tumour resection.

Methods: A total of 185 patients scheduled for NSS for small, superficial kidney tumours were included in an open, randomised, prospective, multicentre, parallel-group trial.

Ex vivo training model for percutaneous renal surgery.

Percutaneous endourological procedures require an advanced level of skills. To facilitate training in the proper technique, simulators are helpful. Non-biological models, useful for learning the basic steps, do not represent the clinical situation in an ideal way.

Selenium reduces high energy shock wave-induced renal injury in rats.

Using an in vitro model with Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, we showed that shock wave-induced renal injury could be ameliorated by selenium. We examined the influence of selenium, a free radical scavenger, in shock wave-induced tubular cell injury in vivo. Male rats were randomly assigned to three groups: 1 control (n= 18), 2 selenium (n = 18), 3 sham treatment (n = 4).