The Role of C-Choline-PET/CT-Guided Secondary Lymphadenectomy in Patients with PSA Failure after Radical Prostatectomy: Lessons Learned from Eight Cases.

Introduction. (11)C-choline-PET/CT is a promising technique for detection/restaging of patients with biochemical failure (BF) after curative therapy for prostate cancer (PCA). The aim of this paper was to evaluate the PSA response in patients with BF after radical prostatectomy (RP) who underwent secondary lymphadenectomy (LAD) due to (11)C-choline-PET/CT findings.

Medical therapy to facilitate the passage of stones: what is the evidence?

Context: Medical expulsive therapy (MET) for urolithiasis has gained increasing attention in the last years. It has been suggested that the administration of alpha-adrenoreceptor antagonists (alpha-blockers) or calcium channel blockers augments stone expulsion rates and reduces colic events.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of MET with alpha-blockers and calcium channel blockers for upper urinary tract stones with and without prior extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL).

Unexpected Long Survival in Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Male Urethra.

A case of primary malignant melanoma of the urethra in a 60-year-old male is presented. Despite multiple adverse prognostic factors and against expectations, after a follow-up of 5.5 years he is still alive.

Comparison of complications in three incontinent urinary diversions.

Background: Few data are available in comparing different incontinent urinary diversions (ICUD).

Objective: To compare early, short-term, and long-term complications in three different forms of ICUD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: 130 high-risk patients undergoing radical cystectomy and ICUD were prospectively enrolled at one institution.

Surgical treatment of spinal dural arterio-venous fistulae: long-term results and analysis of prognostic factors.

Background: Spinal dural arterio-venous fistulae (SDAVF) are slow-flow extramedullary vascular lesions which account for 75-80% of all spinal vascular malformations. At present there is no agreed view with regard to the best therapeutic option being surgical or endovascular, and several reports favour one or other form of management. This is so because of lack of consistent literature, as well as knowledge, concerning the long-term clinical outcome of the patients.

Report on incidence of right-hand preference in 18 eating disordered patients.

Incidence of right-hand preference in a sample of eating disordered patients, 18 probands and 18 controls, was investigated. They completed questions regarding eight functional hand tasks. Preferred right-hand use, mainly externally directed and complex, was less represented among these eating disordered patients (14%) than in the 18 controls (58%).

Hand preference in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

In our Outpatient Department, we studied 56 subjects (41 males, 15 females; aged 5-16 yr.) with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with respect to hand use in functional tasks via parental report. Left-hand use was markedly preferred, compared to that of a control group, more for complex than simple and for external (touching food and objects) than internal (scratching, rubbing eyes) tasks, suggesting a deficit in cerebral control of right-hand use.

Four years experience in bladder preserving management for muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Objectives: To evaluate the bladder preservation strategy in invasive bladder cancer particularly relapse, progression and complications.

Materials And Methods: From January 2000 to May 2004 a total of 24 patients (mean age of 81 years; range 68-92) with muscle invasive bladder cancer who had refused or were not eligible for cystectomy were followed up for a period of up to four years.

Results: 24 (21 M/3 F) patients were followed up for a mean time of 680 (182-1253) days.

Left-handedness in a sample of nine patients with borderline personality disorder.

Recent literature reports the possibility of right hemisphere dysfunction in patients with behavioural disorders. 9 subjects diagnosed as Borderline were studied via parent questionnaire. 5 of 9 patients were reported to use the left hand, more than is reported on the average in the general population, and more often in complex than simple and for external (touching food and objects) than for internal tasks (scratching, rubbing eyes), which suggests a deficit in cerebral control of external, goal-oriented hand use.

Human papillomavirus typing with hybrid capture II on archived liquid-based cytologic specimens: is HPV typing always reproducible?

Reproducibility of human papillomavirus (HPV) typing on archived ThinPrep (Cytyc, Boxborough, MA) specimens was evaluated repeating Hybrid Capture II (HCII) (Digene, Gaithersburg, MD) testing after 25 to 40 months (mean, 31.3 months; group 1), 6 to 11 months (mean, 8.4 months; group 2), and 0 to 5 months (mean, 3.

Family conflict tendency and ADHD.

A lack of perseverance, poor attention, and poorly modulated behaviour are important criteria of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Instructions often have to be repeated, sometimes even by different family members before a child with ADHD attends and complies. We hypothesised that a child with ADHD might cause less disagreement in families with almost no conflicts.

Effect of intravesical instillation on performance of uCYT+ test.

Objectives: To assess the influence of intravesical instillation of epirubicin or bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in patients with bladder cancer on the clinical performance of the uCyt+ test, which traces the three monoclonal antibodies M344, LDQ 10, and 19A211 in urothelial cells.

Methods: A total of 267 patients with a mean age of 70.5 years (range 35 to 87) were included in this prospective study.

Intermediate-risk urothelial carcinoma: an unresolved problem?

Objectives: To perform a biologic characterization of the urothelial neoplasms of patients in the intermediate-risk group using multicolor-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). A general consensus has not been reached with regard to the optimal therapy and follow-up of patients with urothelial neoplasms at intermediate risk of progression. On the basis of the chromosomal pattern, we developed a new follow-up algorithm for this group and report our preliminary results.

ThinPrep versus conventional Papanicolaou smear in the cytologic follow-up of women with equivocal cervical smears.

Background: The purpose of the current study was to compare the efficacy of liquid-based cytology and conventional smears in the cytologic follow-up of cases with "atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude a high-grade lesion" (ASC-H) or "atypical glandular cells" (AGC).

Methods: Cytologic follow-up was performed on 214 cases with ASC-H/AGC diagnosis an conventional smears using either ThinPrep (n = 100) or conventional Papanicoloau (Pap) tests (n = 114). Results were then compared with further histologic and/or cytologic follow-up.

Human papilloma virus typing at large loop excision of the transformation zone of the cervix uteri.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether human papilloma virus (HPV) testing at LLETZ for CIN can be useful to identify patients with high risk of recurrent disease.

Materials And Methods: In 62 women treated with LLETZ for CIN the status of the resection margins was recorded and related to the HPV status as assessed with Hybrid Capture II immediately after surgery. A control typing was repeated 3-9 months later.

En bloc transurethral resection of bladder tumors: use and limits.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of transurethral en bloc resection of bladder tumors using a flat loop. Transurethral en bloc resection of bladder tumors facilitates pathologic evaluation.

Methods: A total of 37 patients with papillary transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder underwent transurethral en bloc resection with the use of a flat loop electrode.

Liquid-based cytology as a tool for the performance of uCyt+ and Urovysion Multicolour-FISH in the detection of urothelial carcinoma.

The aim of the study was to assess the value of liquid-based urinary cytology as a tool to perform uCyt+ and Multicolour-FISH in patients under follow-up after urothelial cancer. Therefore, standard cytology was compared to liquid-based cytology with the addition of the uCyt+ test, which traces the three monoclonal antibodies M344, LDQ10 and 19A211 in exfoliated urothelial cells; and Multicolour-FISH (including centromere-specific probes for chromosomes 3, 7, 17 and a locus-specific probe for 9p21/p16) performed on thin-layer specimens. UCyt+ showed an overall sensitivity of 86.

Teaching transurethral resection of the bladder: still a challenge?

Objectives: To report on our 2-year experience in teaching transurethral resection (TUR) of bladder tumors to five trainees. We analyzed their problems, as well as those of the teachers, and present our solutions.

Methods: Between April 2000 and March 2002, five residents and three members of the staff took part in a training program to teach TUR of the bladder.

Role of uCyt+ in the detection and surveillance of urothelial carcinoma.

Objectives: To test the clinical value and role of uCyt+ as a noninvasive tool for the detection and surveillance of urothelial carcinoma.

Methods: Included in this prospective study were 235 patients (mean age 71.5 years, range 32 to 86).

p16INK4a is a useful marker for the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the cervix uteri and its precursors: an immunohistochemical study with immunocytochemical correlations.

p16 is a tumor suppressor gene that plays a central role in the regulation of the cell cycle. In squamous cervical cancers, overexpression of p16 is induced by HPV and associated with the carcinogenesis of cervical epithelia. The aim of this study was to determine whether immunostaining of p16 is useful in detecting adenocarcinomas of the cervix uteri in histologic and cytologic routine specimens.

Comparison of two qualitative assays, the UBC rapid test and the BTA stat test, in the diagnosis of urothelial cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Objectives: To compare the diagnostic value of two rapid tests, the bladder tumor antigen (BTA stat) test and the newly developed urinary bladder cancer (UBC) Rapid test, in patients having symptoms suggestive of urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) and patients being followed up after transurethral resection.

Methods: One hundred eighty patients with a mean age of 65.8 years (range 22 to 92) were included in the present study.

Comparison of the monoclonal UBC-ELISA test and the NMP22 ELISA test for the detection of urothelial cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Objectives: To compare the diagnostic value of two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests, the nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP22) test and a newly developed urinary bladder cancer (UBC) test, in patients having symptoms suggestive of urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) and patients under follow-up after transurethral resection (TUR).

Methods: Two hundred forty patients with a mean age of 65.8 years (range 22 to 92) were included in this retrospective study.

Quality in management of biomedical equipment.

The project described in this paper concerns the assurance of quality in biomedical equipment management. The project commenced in 1988 with the establishment of the Clinical Engineering Department at the General Hospital of Bolzano, which was entrusted with the task of managing all biomedical equipment installed within its health institutions. To ensure the systematic and organic management of biomedical technology, new technical and administrative procedures were introduced.

Cardiovascular effects of high-dose growth hormone treatment in growth hormone-deficient children.

Growth hormone (GH) hypersecretion is associated with an increased incidence of cardiac hypertrophy and subclinical abnormalities of left ventricular (LV) function. The unlimited availability of biosynthetic GH has led to progressively increased dosage when treating GH-deficient children, raising the question of its cardiovascular effects during long-term therapy. We compared 22 children (8 girls, 14 boys), mean age 12.