Dear Colleagues,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to our first issue in 2010. The UIJ is consistently read by over 20,000 individual subscribers in 206 countries throughout the six continents of the globe. It is truly a unique scientific publication in that it is free for authors to submit manuscripts; it remains open access and resides on a custom platform, unlike any other journal that allows for searchable content within the entire database. It facilitates searchable content with topics, key words or any phrase and will rapidly provide a listing of all articles that include any of the above.

Several studies in the current issue are related to management of ureteral stones. Tawfiek stated that the ideal treatment procedures for large (> 1 cm) proximal ureteral stones have not been defined. Therefore, he divided 147 patients into a group treated with extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) and a group treated with a semirigid ureteroscope and lithoclast. He found a statistically significant group difference at the 1-month evaluation, when 58% of the patients were stone free after ESWL and 92% were stone free after ureteroscopy. A study by Salem et al is about steinstrasse (stone street), an obstructive column of stone fragments retained in the ureteral lumen after ESWL. Spontaneous expulsion is reported in about 37% of cases; otherwise, ureteroscopy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, or additional ESWL treatment is needed. The authors compared a group of 44 patients receiving tamsulosin (0.4 mg daily) for management of steinstrasse with a control group of equal size and similar characteristics. After 28 days, stone expulsion occurred in 72.7% of the patients receiving tamsulosin and 56.8% of the patients in the control group; the difference was statistically significant.

The objective of a randomized, controlled study by Abdel-Meguid was to compare transurethral resection of the prostate in saline (TURPis) using the TURis system with the standard monopolar TURP, to determine evidence of safety and efficacy. The results of the investigation in the context of current literature show that TURPis has the potential to become a preferred method for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Although the focus of many articles in this journal is clinical, basic science research is always welcome. Geyer et al compared tissue distribution and brain penetration of the antimuscarinic drugs trospium chloride and oxybutynin in a mouse model. Additionally, the role of the drug efflux carrier P-glycoprotein for hepatobiliary and urinary excretion and the blood-brain barrier permeability of oxybutynin were evaluated by using knockout mice that were deficient in P-glycoprotein. The authors report that brain penetration of oxybutynin highly exceeded that of trospium chloride at an equal dosage. Implications for patients who are elderly or have disease conditions are discussed.

Finally, Merkle provides a timely review in response to the well known Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) published in 2009. The SELECT Trial demonstrated that these supplements, alone or in combination, did not prevent prostate cancer in a population of relatively healthy men. Merkle discusses some possible limitations to the study and presents literature with contradictory evidence.

In this first issue of 2010, we introduce the Editorial Board for this year. We extend our gratitude to the retiring board members and our new board members, along with all of our reviewers, for their service. We look forward to the new research that our readers will share with us this year and welcome your submissions.

Kind regards,