Letter from the Editor - August 2010

Dear Colleagues,

The first annual reception hosted by the UroToday International Journal® was held during the 2010 AUA annual conference in San Francisco. The reception took place at the City Club of San Francisco where authors, reviewers, members of the Editorial Board, and industry mingled amongst beautiful artwork and views of the San Francisco skyline. The event was a welcomed reprieve from the hectic pace of the conference and provided the opportunity to honor the seven award-winning authors whose articles were deemed highly relevant to the scientific community and whose findings have strong implications for clinicians and patients. I enjoyed the privilege of presenting the awards to those authors able to attend the reception. I appreciate the support of our reviewers and Editorial Board for their dedication to the ongoing publication of the UroToday International Journal.

The rate of article submissions remains on the rise and the number of individual subscribers continues to grow to near 22,000 representative of all continents. Page views for the journal have more than doubled since the same time last year, reaching over 90,000 per year. We look forward to ongoing growth and to continuing to communicate relevant science throughout 2010.

This issue offers publication of a number of original research articles. Valentini and colleagues extended their previously published mathematical micturition model for analysis of urodynamic traces to include additional findings about nervous system control.

Two clinical investigations provide insight into treatment outcomes. First, Dash et al compared the effects of tamsulosin plus flavoxate with tamsulosin plus a placebo for treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms in 120 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Although both treatment groups responded to therapy, the group taking the two active drugs had significant improvement in symptom scores and quality of life measures. Second, there is currently no universal agreement about choosing flexible ureteroscopy (URS) or percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for management of kidney stones after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy has failed. The investigation by ElShebiny provides some insight. He studied 66 patients and discovered that the stone-free rate was similar following either procedure. Although PCNL surgery was shorter in duration and may be the best choice for removal of lower calyx stones, the advantages of significantly shorter hospital stay and less patient discomfort following URS may make it a preferred choice for other cases.

Xin-min et al measured 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) plasma levels of the internal spermatic vein and peripheral vein in 30 patients with varicocele and infertility, and compared the results with 30 fertile patients needing other types of scrotal surgery. The authors found that patients with varicocele had significantly elevated 5-HT plasma levels in the spermatic vein.

Finally, this issue contains a number of case reports. Logan et al present a 58-year-old male with liposarcoma of the spermatic cord. The authors provide an extensive literature review on diagnosis and management of this disorder and recommend long-term surveillance for recurrence. Habibi et al describe a rare case of basal cell carcinoma that metastasized to the kidney of a 61-year-old female. Advanced imaging techniques are improving earlier detection of renal metastasis and this case provides a reminder that metastatic disease should be considered when evaluating renal masses.

Thank you for your continued support of the journal. I welcome your comments and look forward to including those that I receive in future issues.

 

Kind regards,

K-E Andersson
Editor-In-Chief
UIJ