[The cavernous lymphangioma of the external genitalia].

Purpose: Fluctuating tumours of the scrotal and penile basis can be caused by benign lymphangiomas. These rare malformations can preferently be seen in children.

Case Report: We report about a 10 year old boy, who was presented in our department with a bluish, indolent, 4x2 cm sized, fluctuating tumor of the scrotum and penile basis.

The superior prognostic value of humoral factors compared with molecular proliferation markers in renal cell carcinoma.

Background: The American Joint Committee on Cancer and the Union Internationale Contre le Cancer have acknowledged routine laboratory parameters, such as serum calcium, alkaline phosphatase, hemoglobin, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), as predictors of survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma. The predictive value of these parameters compared with proliferation markers, such as Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), topoisomerase II-alpha, and p100, has not been determined.

Methods: Forty-eight consecutive patients who underwent nephrectomy for nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma between 1990 and 1994 were observed up to 120 months postoperatively.

Expression of human beta-defensins 1 and 2 in kidneys with chronic bacterial infection.

Background: Constitutive expression and localization of antimicrobial human beta-defensin-1 (HBD-1) in human kidneys as a potential mechanism of antimicrobial defense has been previously reported. Inducible expression of human beta-defensin-2 (HBD-2) has been described in various epithelial organs but not for the urogenital tract.

Methods: We investigated the gene- and protein expression of HBD-1 and HBD-2 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and immunohistochemistry in 15 normal human kidney samples and 15 renal tissues with chronic bacterial infection.

Cytokeratin-20 reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction as a new tool for the detection of circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood and bone marrow of bladder cancer patients.

Objectives: Systemic progression is the prevalent form of bladder tumor recurrence after radical cystectomy. The ability to detect circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood or bone marrow could be of prognostic value for the disease with the consequence of early adjuvant chemotherapy. We established a sensitive and specific method using a double cytokeratin-20 (CK-20) reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect circulating bladder cancer cells in venous blood and bone marrow

Material And Methods: The sensitivity of the detection method was determined by a serial dilution of bladder cancer cells from the cell line HT1376 in whole blood.

Prostate-specific antigen in female urine: a prospective study involving 217 women.

Objectives: Histomorphologic studies have provided evidence of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-producing tissue in the female urethra. Some urine samples from women in a small series were positive for PSA, but no systematic investigation of this subject has been done to date.

Methods: In a prospective study, we analyzed whether PSA occurs in the urine of women and what factors induce detectable PSA levels.

Experiences with the entero-ureteral anastomosis via the extramural serous-lined tunnel: procedure of Abol-Enein.

Objectives: Ureteral reimplantation in any urinary diversion setting should be easy, reproducible, nonrefluxive, and without complications. In this study, we present our experiences with the entero-ureteral anastomosis via the extramural serous-lined tunnel, a technique introduced by Abol-Enein.

Methods: In the period between 1995 and 1998 we performed the Abol-Enein technique in 50 patients who underwent radical cystectomy and ileal neobladder construction.

Retroperitoneal mature teratoma 15 years after initial treatment of testicular mixed germ cell tumor.

We present a patient with a retroperitoneal tumor noted 15 years after treatment of a testicular mixed germ cell cancer. The patient initially underwent right-sided orchiectomy and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for clinical stage I disease. An early relapse indicated by increasing tumor markers shortly after retroperitoneal lymph node dissection was successfully treated with five cycles of combined chemotherapy.

[Improvement of transrectal ultrasound. Artificial neural network analysis (ANNA) in detection and staging of prostatic carcinoma].

As a result of the enhanced clinical application of prostate specific antigen (PSA), an increasing number of men are becoming candidates for prostate cancer work-up. A high PSA value over 20 ng/ml is a good indicator of the presence of prostate cancer, but within the range of 4-10 ng/ml, it is rather unreliable. Even more alarming is the fact that prostate cancer has been found in 12-37% of patients with a "normal" PSA value of under 4 ng/ml (Hybritech).

Direct amifostine effect on renal tubule cells in rats.

Clinical trials indicate that amifostine offers protection against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. It is unclear whether a direct pharmacological t on renal tubular cells is involved. We investigated the effect of amifostine pretreatment on the tubular apparatus and evaluated its nephroprotective potential.

Artificial neural network analysis (ANNA) of prostatic transrectal ultrasound.

Background: Our purpose was to determine the diagnostic potential of a new, computerized method of interpreting transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) information by artificial neural network analysis (ANNA). This method was developed to resolve the current dilemma of visual differentiation between benign and malignant tissue on TRUS. To train and objectively evaluate ANNA, a new precise method of computerized virtual correlation of preoperative ultrasound findings and radical prostatectomy histopathology was devised.

Urinary leakage of tubular enzymes after shock wave lithotripsy.

Objectives: Urinary loss of tubular marker enzymes following shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) suggests corresponding morphological changes in the kidney. To date, the morphological correlate of enzymuria and its dependence on the energy applied remains unclear.

Methods: In an animal study, the acute morphological changes occurring in the tubulus cells as the basis of enzymuria were investigated.

Morphological correlates of urinary enzyme loss after extracorporeal lithotripsy.

Urinary loss of the tubular marker enzyme N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) immediately following extracorporeal lithotripsy suggests corresponding morphological changes in the kidney. To date, the morphological correlate of the enzymuria remains unclear. In this animal study with Wistar rats acute morphological changes in the tubulus cells beneath isolated tubulus necrosis were demonstrated.

Value of p53 expression, cellular proliferation, and DNA content as prognostic indicators in renal cell carcinoma.

Objective: In renal cell carcinoma (RCC) little is known about the basic mechanisms of cell proliferation and differentiation leading to growth, invasion, and eventual metastasis. In the present study, the prognostic significance of proliferative activity, p53 activity, and ploidy is analyzed.

Methods: In 90 patients with RCC overexpression of the p53 protein.

Correlation between DNA ploidy, proliferation marker Ki-67 and early tumor progression in renal cell carcinoma. A prospective study.

Objective: The course of metastatic renal cell carcinoma shows a broad range of interindividual variation that cannot be sufficiently predicted by tumor stage and grade. The aim of this study was to establish the prognostic value of DNA ploidy and the proliferation marker Ki-67 in renal cell carcinoma.

Methods: Both parameters were measured simultaneously in 100 tumors and then correlated with the classic prognostic criteria pathologic stage and tumor differentiation grade as well as clinical course (early tumor progression).

Prognostic indicators for response to therapy and survival in patients with metastatic renal cell cancer treated with interferon alpha-2 beta and vinblastine.

Objectives: Only one third of all patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma respond to immunochemotherapy. Improved patient selection could render such treatment unnecessary in many cases. The goal of the study was to test various factors for their prognostic value as predictors of success of immunochemotherapy and patient survival in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

p53 expression, proliferation marker Ki-S5, DNA content and serum PSA: possible biopotential markers in human prostatic cancer.

Objectives: The biology of prostate cancer is poorly understood. Despite established prognostic criteria, a confident prediction of the clinical outcome is not always possible. Therefore, additional and more precise information is highly desirable.

Quantitative DNA analysis in renal cell carcinoma. Comparison of flow and image cytometry.

In 70 renal cell carcinomas, nuclear DNA content was determined by means of flow cytometry (FCM) and image cytometry (ICM). The two methods produced comparable results as to DNA tumor ploidy (DNA tumor stemlines, DNA index): 14 of the tumors were tetraploid or aneuploid and 56 diploid. Results with the two methods were also comparable in a comparison of DNA ploidy with degree of tumor malignancy (tumor grade G1-3) and local tumor spread stage (pT stage).

Adult Wilms' tumor: case report, management, prognosis.

Wilms' tumor being a rare disease in adults, even large centers have had experience with isolated cases only. In our clinic, we have treated two cases of histologically confirmed Wilms' tumor in the last 3 years. On the basis of two case reports, we describe the staging, treatment and prognosis of this highly malignant tumor.

DNA content and the proliferation marker Ki-67 as prognostic indicators in renal cell carcinoma.

Patients suffering from renal cell carcinoma have a generally poor prognosis. Even cases that are clinically in comparable stages can, however, take quite different courses. The basic prognostic factors, histological grade and TNM stage do not do justice to the heterogeneous biological behavior of this tumor entity.

[Therapy of prostate abscess by employing pigtail drainage with transrectal ultrasound control].

Prostatic abscess is a rare but often severe disease. In most cases diagnosis is difficult. The best diagnostic tool is transrectal ultrasound, which depicts prostatic abscess very clearly.

[Cavernosography using digital luminescence radiography (DLR) in the diagnosis of venous induced erectile function and of diseases of the corpus cavernosum].

Dynamic cavernosography is the most important technique for identifying and localizing venous leakage in erectile dysfunction. The use of digital radiography with a greater degree of tolerance in the exposure, a more dynamic signal, and a shorter exposure time can enhance the diagnostic value of conventional cavernosography. A further advantage of the method is the lower dosage required, which means that the gonads are exposed to less radiation.

[Priapism following intracavernous injection of vasoactive substances as a urologic emergency].

From 1986 to 1989 papaverine was used alone or in combination with phentolamine in 165 patients in diagnosis and treatment of erectile dysfunction. In 14 patients a prolonged erection did occur after diagnostical introduction of SKAT therapy. Treatment consisted of intracavernous injection of 2-4 mg metaraminol, partly additional by puncture of cavernous bodies and evacuation of viscous blood.