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30 June 2008

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to announce the launch of the UroToday International Journal® (UIJ) (http://www.urotodayinternationaljournal.com), a new online, peer-reviewed, fast-tracked urology and urologic oncology publication. UIJ focuses specifically on the professional global urology and urologic oncology community. It will elevate the access to relevant urology and oncology science to professionals around the world. UIJ will make the scientific information available to a much wider audience than that reached by other journals, including potential readers who do not have access to a research library that can afford to pay for journal subscriptions. There is no charge to register, submit or publish an article in the UIJ. Additionally there are no charges for color figures. There is no other urology journal offering this unique approach to achieve peer-review publication.

UIJ reaches currently over 55,000 professionals in urology. UIJ will open for general submission of manuscripts on May 31st, 2008 for the July issue.

All manuscripts will be subject to rigorous peer-review. All accepted articles will be given Digital Object Identifier (DOI) numbers so that they can be retrieved and indexed by Pubmed as soon as the pending application from UroToday International Journal has been accepted.

The UroToday International Journal® has an international editorial board headed by myself, Professor at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University. The Section/Associate Editors are; Christopher P. Evans, Christian Gratzke and Yasuhiko Igawa. Christopher P. Evans MD, FACS is the Chair of the Department of Urology and Professor & Chairman of Urologic Surgical Oncology University of California, Davis, School of Medicine. Christian Gratzke is an Urologist in the Department of Urology, at the University of Munich in Germany and Yasuhiko Igawa, MD, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Urology at Shinshu University School of Medicine, Japan.Gina B. Carithers is the Publisher of both the UroToday International Journal® and www.urotoday.com. The Managing Editor is Tracy Ireland.

Kind regards,
Karl-Erik Andersson, MD, PhD

Editor-In-Chief

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is the involuntary leakage of urine during periods of increased abdominal pressure (e.g., coughing, running or lifting). It is caused by an incompetent urethral sphincter which may arise as a consequence of damage to the pelvic floor muscles sustained during pregnancy and childbirth. Pharmacological therapy includes the off-label use of sympathomimetic medication (alpha-adrenergic agonists), to enhance urethral tone and alleviate symptoms, however their associated cardiovascular side effects (e.g. hypertension) limits their utility. PSD503 (Plethora Solutions Ltd, London, UK) is a controlled dose topical gel, which contains the alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (20% w/w). It has been developed as a locally administered treatment for SUI, to increase urethral tone and provide symptomatic relief, in the absence of systemic side effects.

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23 June 2008

Background

Obesity is an established and modifiable risk factor for urinary incontinence (UI) but conclusive evidence for a beneficial effect of weight loss on UI is lacking.

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23 June 2008

Introduction: We present a retrospective study involving 48 patients, who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) for bladder outflow obstruction due to prostatic enlargement [4]. The aim of the study was to compare the safety of 2-way catheters post-TURP in relation to the 3-way catheter.

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) following neurological illness depends upon the level of lesion in the nervous system, causing a characteristic pattern of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). However, a subset of patients may have symptoms that are at variance from the expected pattern.

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23 June 2008

Background

Obesity is an established risk factor for urinary incontinence (UI).

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Pad use per day is a controversial endpoint for measuring urinary incontinence severity. Our objective was to determine if pad use could be used as a proxy measurement assessing patient quality of life after pubovaginal sling surgery (PVS).

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23 June 2008

Introduction and Objective

Determine if peri- and postoperative outcomes after Burch colposuspension or pubovaginal sling for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) differed with age.

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23 June 2008

Introduction

Pad use per day is a controversial endpoint for measuring urinary incontinence severity.

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction: We hypothesized that women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and overt stress urinary incontinence (SUI) would demonstrate less obstruction and retention because of the “release valve” effect of a less competent urethra. To evaluate this, we conducted a prospective supplementary study to the Colpopexy And Urinary Reduction Efforts (CARE) study. We compared voiding parameters and symptoms in 3 groups of women with POP: 1) women with no symptoms of SUI and no urodynamic stress incontinence (USI) during prolapse reduction , 2) women with no SUI symptoms but evidence of USI on reduction testing (occult USI) and 3) women with SUI symptoms (overt SUI).

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction: To better understand the correlation between non-instrumented uroflowmetry (NIF) and pressure-flow studies (PFS) in women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP), we conducted a prospective supplementary study to the Colpopexy And Urinary Reduction Efforts (CARE) study.

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction and Objectives: The aims of the present study were to determine the indications for anti-incontinence surgery and evaluate the efficacy of different methods (combination of anterior colporraphy with TVT, vaginal wall sling (VWS), Raz needle suspension) in preventing postoperative stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women undergoing surgery for severe urogenital prolapse.

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction: We hypothesized that women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and overt stress urinary incontinence (SUI) would demonstrate less obstruction and retention because of the “release valve” effect of a less competent urethra. To evaluate this, we conducted a prospective supplementary study to the Colpopexy And Urinary Reduction Efforts (CARE) study. We compared voiding parameters and symptoms in 3 groups of women with POP: 1) women with no symptoms of SUI and no urodynamic stress incontinence (USI) during prolapse reduction, 2) women with no SUI symptoms but evidence of USI on reduction testing (occult USI), and 3) women with SUI symptoms (overt SUI).

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction and Objective

Although mid-urethral sling (MUS) with synthetic materials is associated with high success rates in female stress urinary incontinence (SUI), its widespread use has led to a group of patients with failures, increasing the need for an appropriate salvage procedure. Current options for managing failed MUS are transurethral injection of bulking agent, pubovaginal sling, or repeat MUS. Transurethral injection (TUI) of bulking agent may be appealing in patients in whom was failed the MUS procedure for its minimal invasiveness. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of TUI of bulking agent for the treatment of recurrent or persistent SUI after MUS.

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23 June 2008

Introduction and Objectives

The aim of this study is to report the functional results, patient satisfaction, and morbidity of the Transobturator tape procedure (TOT) in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

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23 June 2008

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Objective: To compare outcomes and complications after sacrocolpopexy (SC) performed with and without Burch colposuspension between obese and healthy-weight women.

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction and Objective: The objective of the current study is to evaluate the influence of age on the Elasticity of prolapsed vaginal tissue. Despite the recent efforts of several researchers [1,2], the mechanical properties of vaginal tissue are not fully understood. This information is important, for example, as an aid to evaluate the adequacy of urogynecologic implant materials [3], or it can be a contribution to the improvement of numerical simulations related with the pelvic cavity on women with pathologies like pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence.

Methods: For the current study 28 post-menopausal patients were considered. Patient‚s age ranged from 49 to 84 years old. All patients were assisted on São João Hospital, and live on the North of Portugal. The tissue samples were collected between April of 2006 and October of 2007. Sample removal was performed during prolapse correction surgeries, according to a procedure approved by the Ethics Committee of S. João Hospital. Uniaxial tension tests were performed. The maximum time until testing was 6 hours and most of the specimens were tested no more than 4 hours after surgery. It was measured an elasticity parameter E describing the linear elastic portion of the stress/stretch curves [3]. The software package MATLAB® version 7 for windows was the platform used for statistics, data interpolation and graphical presentation of the results. The R-square value (complete miss? 0 = R-square = 1? complete match) was as a statistical measurement for the accuracy of the curve fittings presented.

Results: The experimental (average ± SD) value obtained for the elasticity parameter E was E = 12.34 ± 4.71 MPa. The results of the current study are a close match to those reported in [1], considering that they were achieved with a different experimental protocol [2,3]. A linear approximation of E (E˘-0.017*age+13; R-square = 0.001) shows a slight decreasing tendency of this property with age. However, a very small R-square coefficient indicates that the fitting does not describe the experimental results with accuracy.

Conclusion: It is known that biomechanical properties of living tissues are influenced by a multitude of patient dependent factors [4]. For the particular case of vaginal tissue, there have been recent works [1,2] debating the influence of patient dependent characteristics (such as age or parity) on the biomechanical properties. The present study, in agreement with the consulted literature, indicates that patient age does not influence the biomechanical properties of prolapsed vaginal tissue in any special way [1], but nevertheless does have some influence.

REFERENCES

1. Lei, L., Y. Song, et al. (2007). "Biomechanical properties of prolapsed vaginal tissue in pre- and postmenopausal women." Int Urogynecol J 18: 603-607
2. Epstein, L., M. Heit, et al. (2006). "Systemic and vaginal elasticity in women with and without pelvic organ prolapse." Int Urogynecol J 17(S2): S57
3. Afonso, J., P. Martins, et al. (2008). "Mechanical properties of polypropylene mesh used in pelvic floor repair." Int Urogynecol J 19: 375-380
4. Fung, Y. C. (1993). Biomechanics: Mechanical properties of living tissues, 2nd ed. Springer-Verlag. 

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23 June 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction and Objectives: The aim of this study is to report the functional results, patient satisfaction, and morbidity of the Transobturator tape procedure (TOT) in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). 204 patients with mean age of 58.8 years (range 31-72) who have completed a minimal follow-up of 12 months were enrolled in this study. 157 patients (77%) had history of stress incontinence and 47 patients (23%) had history of mixed incontinence. 153 patients had concomitant gynecological pathology (pelvic organ prolapse).

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23 June 2008

Introduction and Objectives: Transobturator tapes (TOTs) are a well established procedure performed in female stress incontinence. The relatively low rate of complications and reduced hospital stay make it an attractive alternative to traditional incontinence surgery. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate our experience of TOTs since introduction in our hospital in 2005.