Letter from the Editor - October 2013

Dear Colleagues, 

We at UroToday International Journal hope all our current readers and authors have enjoyed a warm and nice early fall as we are fast approaching the Holiday season. In this issue of UIJ we are proud to announce the first ever article with videos included! The videos can be found on the homepage of UroToday,® the leading digital only, global urology website, where the first urology content dedicated Urology TUBE™ was recently launched. Urology TUBE™ is a rich media content distribution channel that offers a simplified interface providing easier access to video content channels.

The article by Nickles et al. present a technique for transvaginal removal of vesicular mesh erosion and the two accompanying videos demonstrate this technique in a step-by-step fashion in the Urology TUBE™ on urotoday.com

A review by Dr. Campeau shows thatsystemically administered cannabinoids may be able to become clinically useful for the control of lower urinary tract function. This review is a step towards understanding the potential in the development of novel cannabinoid drugs for the treatment of micturition disorders such as overactive bladder syndrome.

Newman and Strauss provide a synopsis of current practices and multimodal prevention strategies for catheter-associated urinary tract infections. These urinary catheter-related infections are associated with morbid events, such as delirium, and with longer lengths of stay and higher costs of medical care.

A retrospective review was completed by Dickstein et al. toevaluate the utility of computed tomography (CT) scanning in identifying patients with locally advanced bladder cancer.

An evaluation of the efficacy of alpha-adrenergic blockers with or without Deflazacort in the expulsion of a lower ureteric calculus ≤ 10 mm was performed by Phukan et al.

The ability to render patients tube and stent free after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) was studied by Al-Ba’adani et al. and they found that tubeless, stentless PNL decreases hospital stay, postoperative pain, and the need for analgesia, and subsequently lowered work abstinence.

Finally, Valentini et al. compared the geometric effect of the urethral catheter in regards to the effect of other mechanical parameters likely to influence the voiding phase during a urodynamic study. The geometric obstruction due to the catheter was almost negligible for non-obstructed individuals compared with the volume effect up to a 6 Fr catheter size.

We also present a series of case studies that include various topics, including the above mentioned study about Excision of Mesh Erosion, Crossed Renal Ectopia, Bladder Diverticulum, Colovesical Fistulae, Spontaneous Dissolution of a Double-J Ureteric Stent, Posterior Urethral Valve with a Bladder Stone, and Priapism as Unusual Sequalae of Malignant Melanoma.

We encourage our current readers and authors to continue to spread the word about UIJ, reminding potential submitters that submission, peer review, and publication are all free. I personally thank the authors and reviewers for their valuable contributions to this issue.

Warm Regards, 

Karl-Erik Andersson