Journal Reviews
PDE5I in LUTS – how do they work – no proof yet
Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors used in erectile dysfunction (ED) have been shown to improve lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) as well. The mechanism is not well understood. One of the hypotheses for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) – LUTS is...
New therapy for overactive bladder
Overactive bladder (OAB) is a complex symptom that can adversely affect quality of life. So far pharmacotherapy has focused on anti-cholinergic drugs. Recently, beta-adrenoreceptors have been identified as having an effect on the detrusor muscle and urothelium. Beta-3 is the...
Antimuscarinics and behaviour in patients with spinal dysraphism
Since the 1980s patients with spinal dysraphism have had aggressive bladder management with clean intermittent catheterisation and anticholinergic therapy from early on in life. This strategy aims at improving lower and therefore upper urinary tract function thus decreasing the risk...
Urethral sphincter function before and after radical prostatectomy
This paper from Holland will be useful for urologists involved in radical prostatectomy (RP) for cancer of the prostate. It presents a PubMed search between 1980 and 2012. Twenty-five out of 124 articles were further analysed, mainly English-language papers. Several...
Reflux oesophagitis and risk of interstitial cystitis: is there a link?
This study aims to explore the potential link between reflux oesophagitis (RE) and interstitial cystitis / bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). IC/BPS is a chronic disease which is difficult to diagnose and treat. Two percent of the population may be affected....
Novel therapy for SUI
This is a joint study from Iran and University College London. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a difficult condition to treat for patients and clinicians alike. Various surgical procedures have their benefits and pitfalls. Cell therapy is a new modality;...
Pacemakers in the upper urinary tract
This is an interesting study from Italy. The mechanism by which urine is transported from the kidney to the bladder via the upper urinary tract (UUT) remains poorly understood and elusive. For many years, pyeloureteric rhythmicity is thought to arise...
Adults with myelomeningocoele: life situation and bladder and bowel management
Long-term outcome studies of patients to include what happens at transition to adulthood are rare but increasing in the literature as paediatric urologists are questioning their long-term results more deeply. These authors aimed to assess life situation and bladder and...
Age does not impact risk for urethroplasty complications after TIP repair of hypospadias
This paper is evidence of an increasing trend (especially in the USA) to lower the age at which hypospadias repair is undertaken. The current generalised best accepted age to repair hypospadias is between 6-18 months, which was reduced in the...
Outcomes of preserving the foreskin during distal hypospadias
Hypospadias surgery continues to tax the minds of paediatric urologists. Increasingly distal hypospadias surgery is becoming more and more conservative (in some cases, carrying out only foreskin reconstruction and leaving a mild hypospadias) and the role of foreskin reconstruction as...
A phase II dose-ranging study of mirabegron in patients with OAB
This was a multinational, multicentre, randomised, double–blind, double-dummy, parallel group placebo- and active- controlled phase II study. The study enrolled 1108 men and women aged 18 and over. The criteria were: patients must have had overactive blader (OAB) symptoms for...
Is silodosin the new first-line treatment for LUTS secondary to BPH?
This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the safety profile and non-inferiority of silodosin when compared to tamsulosin for the treatment of male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). As the prostate and bladder neck are abound...
