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Objectives: To examine in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study the analgesic effect of periprostatic nerve block and/or intravenous synthetic opioid administration during a 12-core prostate biopsy., Patients and Methods: Patients were prospectively randomized to receive unilateral periprostatic lidocaine administration and/or intravenous synthetic opioid (meperidine or tramadol) administration. Placebo groups received sterile normal saline. Unilateral infiltration was performed and biopsy was begun on this side. The degree of pain was recorded using the visual analog scale/numeric analog scale (VAS/NAS) score before the procedure, during probe introduction into the rectum, during unilateral periprostatic nerve blockade, during the first 6-core biopsy and during the second 6-core biopsy, and 30 min after biopsy completion., Results: Most of the patients had mild or moderate pain (VAS/NAS <6) during the actual biopsy procedure. However, no significant differences existed between the groups with regard to the pain scores at any time (p > 0.05). Compared with pain scores, no significant differences existed between the first 6-core (blocked side) and second 6-core biopsies (p > 0.05)., Conclusion: Periprostatic lidocaine infiltration and/or intravenous synthetic opioid analgesics are not beneficial in significantly reducing pain during biopsy. We think that most of the patients do have pain during biopsy, however the intensity of pain is tolerable and does not require analgesics., (Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Objectives: To detect the prevalence of sexual dysfunction, and also to investigate possible risk factors that may cause sexual dysfunction in the Turkish women., Materials and Methods: The study consisted of 179 women between the ages of 18 and 66 years living in households from different sociocultural areas. The women were divided into 5 groups according to their ages: 18-27 years (n = 23), 28-37 years (n = 55), 38-47 years (n = 43), 48-57 years (n = 44) and 58-67 years (n = 14). Female sexual function was evaluated with a detailed 19-item questionnaire to assess desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was calculated for each domain and compared among the groups. In addition, demographic characteristics and medical risk factors were assessed in all women, and the findings were compared between the women with and without sexual dysfunction., Results: Based on total sexual function score, 84 (46.9%) out of 179 women had sexual dysfunction. The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction was 21.7% in the ages of 18-27 years, 25.5% in the ages of 28-37 years, 53.5% in the ages of 38-47 years, 65.9% in the ages of 48-57 years and 92.9% in the ages of 58-67 years. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction for each domain also increased with age. To investigate various factors that may cause female sexual dysfunction, no significant differences were detected in smoking history (p = 0.14), marriage age (p = 0.7), the presence of previous pelvic surgery (p = 0.09), and contraception methods used (p = 0.31). However, sexual dysfunction was observed as significantly higher in the presence of older age (p = 0.001), lower educational level (p = 0.012), unemployment status (p = 0.017), chronic disease (p = 0.032), multiparity (p = 0.0027) and menopause status (p = 0.0001)., Conclusions: The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain problems increases with age. In addition, the presence of a lower educational level, unemployment status, chronic diseases, multiparity and menopause status are important risk factors that may cause sexual dysfunction., (Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Objective: We sought to quantify intracavernosal smooth muscle content (SMC), endothelial cells (EC) and elastic fibres (EF) in both potent and impotent men. We compare the results in impotent men with regard to patient age, aetiology of impotence, presence or absence of diabetes mellitus and smoking., Patients and Methods: Seventy penile biopsies were taken from 10 potent patients with congenital penile curvature (age 17-24 years, mean: 21 +/- 1.16) and from 60 impotent patients (age 28-64 years, mean: 46 +/- 7.64). Biopsies were stained immunohistochemically to quantify the percentage of SMC by anti-desmin and anti-SMA, anti-CD-34 for EC and Verhoeff's histochemical staining for EF. Statistical analyses were performed by using one-way Anova after square root transformation., Results: We observed a statistically significant difference in the amounts of corporeal SMC, EC and EF with regard to the following subgroups: potent versus impotent men; men with arterial aetiology versus veno-occlusive aetiology; men under the age of 45 versus men over the age of 45; patients with diabetes mellitus versus non-diabetes mellitus, and smokers versus non-smokers., Conclusion: Quantification of intracavernosal structures appears to be important for either understanding the mechanism of impotence or deciding the appropriate treatment., (Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Introduction: The differentiation of unilateral versus bilateral varicoceles and testicular volume measurements are important in determining the need for adolescent varicocele surgery and also in following patients after varicocelectomy. The aim of this study was to prospectively compare the findings of physical examination and color Doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis of pediatric varicoceles and to compare the findings using the Prader orchidometer and scrotal ultrasonography in the measurement of testicular volumes., Patients and Methods: This study included 68 boys with varicoceles, ranging in age from 8 to 19 years. Varicoceles were diagnosed using both physical examination and scrotal color Doppler ultrasonography. The testicular volumes of 136 testicles were measured using the Prader orchidometer and scrotal ultrasonography. A difference of more than 10% or 2 ml in each testicular volume was considered significant., Results: The mean age of the boys was 13.5 +/- 2.3 years. On physical examination, a left unilateral varicocele was diagnosed in 46 boys (67.6%). The other 22 boys (32.4%) had bilateral varicoceles. Color Doppler ultrasonography detected bilateral varicoceles in 4 of the 46 boys (8.7%) who were diagnosed by physical examination as having only left unilateral varicoceles (grade 3 in 3 patients and grade 2 in 1 patient). A different of more than 10% or 2 ml in testicular volume using the Prader orchidometer versus scrotal ultrasonography was detected in 3 out of 136 testicles (2.2%). The correlation between ultrasonography and Prader orchidometer results in the measurement of testicular volumes was statistically highly significantly consistent using the intraclass correlation test (r = 0.997 and p < 0.001 for the left testis; r = 0.998 and p < 0.001 for the right testis)., Conclusions: Although the management of subclinical varicoceles remains controversial, these data show that color Doppler ultrasonography may be necessary in the diagnosis of bilateral varicoceles, especially in boys with high-grade left varicoceles. In contrast, scrotal ultrasonography, if considered the gold standard, did not show superiority over the Prader orchidometer in measuring testicular volumes., (Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Introduction: To determine the changes in plasma lipid levels in symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients receiving terazosin treatment., Materials and Methods: The study included 99 patients with BPH aged 44-74 years. The patients were divided into 3 groups: in group 1 (n = 25) with baseline total cholesterol levels of >220 mg/dl, terazosin 5 mg/day was used; in group 2 (n = 56) with basal total cholesterol levels of < 220 mg/dl, terazosin 5 mg/day was used, and group 3 (n = 18) did not use terazosin and was defined as the control group. Plasma levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and triglyceride were recorded, and the high-density lipoprotein to total cholesterol ratio was calculated at the beginning of the study and after 12 weeks., Results: The total cholesterol level decreased from the baseline level by 10.88% after 12 weeks (p < 0.05) in group 1. The decrease was observed in 22 of 25 patients (88%). In group 1, the mean plasma total cholesterol level decreased significantly (p < 0.05), but the decrease was not significant in group 2 and no change was observed in group 3. The mean plasma low-density lipoprotein level decreased significantly in group 1 (p < 0.05), but no change was observed in the other 2 groups. The mean plasma high-density lipoprotein level increased in group 1, whereas no change was observed in the other 2 groups. The mean plasma triglyceride level decreased significantly in groups 1 and 2 (p < 0.05), but no change was observed in group 3. The high-density lipoprotein to total cholesterol ratio increased significantly in group 1, but no change was observed in the other 2 groups., Conclusion: We suggest that terazosin may be a reasonable choice because of the beneficial effect on the lipid profile in older symptomatic BPH patients with a higher ratio of dyslipidemia., (Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm. We had the opportunity to report a case of epithelioid sarcoma of the penis., (Copyright 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Objective: The short and long-term effects of two common transurethral procedures (TURP and TULP, transurethral prostatic resection and laser prostatectomy, respectively) on plasma hormone levels in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) have been evaluated., Patients and Methods: Totally 57 patients with histologically proven BPH (age range 54-81 years, mean 62.5 years) were included into the study program. Of these 57 patients, 44 underwent TURP and 13 underwent TULP for treatment of their bladder outlet obstructions. 20 patients with bladder cancer undergoing transurethral resection (n = 15) and those undergoing transurethral laser ablation (n = 5) constituted the control group. Plasma luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, aldosterone, dihydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and testosterone levels were assessed in all patients before and after 3 weeks and 3 months following the aforementioned procedures. Comparative evaluation of the results with respect to the effect of different procedures have been made between study and control groups., Results: Preoperatively, we were not able to demonstrate any significant difference with respect to all but plasma prolactin levels (p < 0.05) between the study and control groups. Prolactin levels were found to be significantly higher in BPH patients. In BPH patients undergoing TURP, while LH levels were significantly higher during the 3 weeks' evaluation (p < 0.001) no significant difference could be shown during the 3 months' examination (p > 0.05). Again, prolactin levels did significantly decline (p < 0.05) in patients undergoing TURP during the 3 weeks' follow-up evaluation, no difference was present 3 months postprocedure. On the other hand, in patients undergoing TULP, while we were not able to show any significant difference with respect to plasma prolactin levels (p > 0.05) pre- and postoperatively, plasma LH levels were significantly increased during the 3-month evaluation (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Alterations in the plasma levels of LH and prolactin following prostatectomy during follow-up evaluation, led the physicians to consider possible effects of some factors released from resected prostate gland. Behavior of prolactin and LH after TURP and laser ablation is quite different in our study. It may be related to the higher amount of residual prostate tissue after TULP. On the other hand, normalization of hormone levels 3 months following TURP, led us to think about the activation of some factors responsible for hormonal regulation which in turn institutes a new hormonal balance.