This article was originally published EYE NEWS VOLUME 27 ISSUE 6 APRIL/MAY 2021 Rod McNeil breaks down the impact of the Brexit deal on healthcare in the UK, including medicines regulation, research funding, sharing of information and the ability to...
As an ST8 trainee in paediatric general surgery and urology, I had firmly decided on subspecialisation in paediatric urology. Whilst preparing for the dreaded final Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP), the all-important question of “What next?” came to the...
The widespread use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing has led to diagnostic difficulties for patients and urologists. The sensitivity and specificity characteristics of PSA are far from optimal. To try and improve the predictive accuracy of PSA measurements, nomograms...
It can be awkward when a patient asks you about a report in their favourite tabloid detailing an amazing research breakthrough or a `cutting-edge’ new treatment / test and you don’t know what they are talking about! So this section...
Introduction Unenhanced computed tomography of kidneys, ureter and bladder (CTKUB) is the recommended gold standard investigation in patients with acute renal colic. CT urography is now a commonly used technique in the investigation of haematuria, for surgical planning and for...
US News & World Report (USNWR) provide rankings on a wide range of topics (education, health, money, travel, cars and law firms). In terms of healthcare, they suggest that their rankings (based on metrics) are a tool that can help...
Scientific literature continues to expand exponentially, with an average doubling period of 15 years [1]. Staying up to date is an ever-increasing challenge and our time is constantly being consumed by attention-hungry social media platforms, slow NHS IT systems and...
This is an interesting paper reporting on the use of neoadjuvant androgen blockage in patients with high-risk prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy. Previous work in the literature has shown an improvement in the rate of organ-confined disease and decreased positive...
This paper explored the role of multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) in predicting the likelihood of lymph node invasion in patients with a risk of <5% according to the Briganti nomogram. Three hundred and ten patients who underwent a preoperative mpMRI and...
With the rise of resistant organisms to most commonly used antibiotics, there is a plea for judicious use of antibiotics, especially for clean surgical procedures. Potential adverse events associated with antibiotic use include allergic reaction (including anaphylaxis), clostridium difficile infection,...
This is a descriptive paper of micro CT scans of tubular mineralisation in 12 nephrectomy specimens. The authors noted that: in the small number of specimens examined, mineralisation started in the outer medulla and appeared to proceed distally along the...
This paper is an analysis of 36 years of radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma in the Mayo Clinic (1970-2006). In particular, it contains an analysis of the risk of renal fossa recurrence after nephrectomy (partial nephrectomies are not included)...