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Purpose: Our previous study indicated that there was a great variety in the perioperative management of radical prostatectomy among hospitals. Therefore we conducted a multiinstitutional study in order to standardize the perioperative management using clinical pathways., Materials and Methods: The perioperative data on radical prostatectomy were collected between January and December 2004 (Period 1) from eight hospitals. These outcomes were discussed by researchers and the clinical pathway used at each hospital was constructed or revised. The outcomes using these pathways in Period 2 (January 2005 to March 2006) were compared with those in Period 1., Results: Three hundred seventy-eight men in Period 1 and 360 in Period 2 were enrolled in this study. The settings of perioperative management using the new pathways were relatively similar among hospitals. A majority of perioperative management procedures in Period 2 were conducted as described in the new clinical pathways, judging from the median days. The day of initiating the resumption of fluid intake, meals and removing the epidural anesthetic catheter and drain changed from 1.2 +/- 0.7 to 1.3 +/- 1.4 postoperative day, 1.9 +/- 1.2 to 1.8 +/- 1.7, 2.4 +/- 0.7 to 2.5 +/- 0.6, 3.8 +/- 2.5 to 3.8 +/- 2.8, respectively, without a significant difference. The postoperative day of initiating the walking and discontinuing continuous drip infusion and intravenous antibiotics were shortened from 1.9 +/- 0.9 to 1.5 +/- 0.6, 3.7 +/- 2.1 to 3.1 +/- 2.2 and 3.6 +/- 2.0 to 2.5 +/- 2.2, respectively, which did show a significant difference. The day of removing the urethral catheter was changed 9.1 +/- 4.9 to 8.6 +/- 5.4 without significant difference. But the durations of preoperative hospitalization, hospitalization after removing the urethral catheter and postoperative hospitalization were significantly shortened from 3.4 +/- 2.1 to 2.5 +/- 1.0 days, 8.9 +/- 10.1 to 5.6 +/- 3.8, and 17.9 +/- 10.9 to 14.4 +/- 9.1, respectively., Conclusions: The clinical pathways established or revised at these hospitals after discussing the perioperative management in multiple hospitals were similar, and using such pathways advanced the standardization of peri-operative management after radical prostatectomy.

Aims: Folic acid is one of water-soluble Vitamin B group and plays an important role in proliferating cells of the fetus. A multicentered, randomized control trial proved in 1991 that folic acid supplements of 4 mg per day periconceptionally administered to 1031 women who were recruited from 7 countries and had afflicted prior pregnancy successfully prevented 72% of recurrence of neural tube defects. As a primary prevention method, the Government has recommended to take 400 microgram of folate supplements per day from 4 weeks before and 12 weeks after conception. Because of huge amount of folate being demanded in the first trimester, this vitamin is called as "vitamin for women" or "vitamin for fetuses". We herewith report results of questionnaire study performed among urologists., Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was sent July 2007 to 400 urologists randomly selected from the Membership Directory of the Japanese Urological Association 2006 whether they are aware of the role of folic acid and how they guide young women or pregnant women on their life style. One hundred sixty-one responses were obtained (40%)., Results: Thirty-six percent of urologists were aware of the important role of folic acid in the critical stage of fetal development, which was significantly elevated compared to 26% observed in 2002 (p = 0.037). Fifty-seven percent of urologists acquired this information through Japanese Urological Association or medical journals, 17% through mass media, and 7% through internet. Those who guided young women or pregnant women to refrain from smoking, to abstain from alcohol, to take well-balanced meals and to take folate supplements were 73%, 62%, 67% and 7%, respectively. Ninety-two percent of urologists agreed to provide this information to young women or pregnant women., Conclusion: Birth incidence of spina bifida has been increasing in Japan. In order to suppress incidence of this congenital anomaly, Urologists are requested to send young women a message that maternal periconceptional intake of folate will suppress the risk of congenital anomalies.

A 58-year old female was referred to our hospital due to left renal cyst that was pointed out at her health check-up. Abdominal CT scan showed left hydronephrosis with a 20 x 12 x 11cm tumor. The serum CA19-9 level elevated to 4,400 U/ml. Urinary cytology in the left renal pelvis was negative, therefore we could not diagnose whether the mass was renal cell carcinoma or renal pelvic tumor before surgery. She underwent left radical nephrectomy, and frozen section revealed renal cell carcinoma. Immunohistological stain clarified CA19-9 was limited to epithelium lining the renal pelvis and was not contained in carcinoma cells. After the surgery, the serum CA19-9 decreased to the normal range. Serum CA19-9 is known to be sometimes elevated in patients with urothelial carcinoma, but rarely elevated in those with renal cell carcinoma. We thought that hydronephrosis by tumor occlusion caused CA19-9 elevation in our case.

A 74-year-old male was referred to our hospital due to microhematuria that was pointed out at his health check-up. Cystoscopy showed many papillary bladder tumors under 5 mm in size. Intravenous pyelography also showed deformity of the right kidney and shadow defects in the left renal pelvis. Abdominal computed tomography revealed an 8 cm tumor invading the renal vein in the right kidney, and a 3 cm tumor in the left renal pelvis. Prostate biopsy was performed with PSA 3.4 ng/ml, and he was also diagnosed with prostate carcinoma. First, he received right radical nephrectomy, and secondly left nephroureterectomy and cystectomy. Our case should be called triple cancer because bladder cancer was thought to be daughter tumor of renal pelvic tumor. This is, to our knowledge, the 11th case report that occurred in the urinary tact, and the first case that needed total resection of urinary tract.

Objectives: The perioperative management of radical prostatectomy in Japan has not been investigated previously. It would be significant to document present management practices., Methods: A questionnaire survey of 1,213 educational institutions of Japanese urological association was conducted by mail., Results: Questionnaires were returned from 722 (60%) institutions and responses indicated that radical prostatectomy was performed in 657 of these institutions (91%). Admission to hospital was most frequently scheduled on preoperative day 2; walking was most frequently planned to be initiated on postoperative day (POD) 1; beginning of food intake on POD 2; termination of continuous drip infusion and drain removal on POD 3, removal of the Foley catheter on POD 7; intravenous antibiotics for three days; oral antibiotics for 7 days; and discharge from hospital on POD 14. However, the duration of the indwelling drain and Foley catheter, antibiotic administration and hospitalization varied widely., Conclusion: There was great variety in the perioperative management of radical prostatectomy among hospitals. We need to obtain consensus on 1) the timing of drain removal, 2) duration of antibiotics, and 3) the timing of catheter removal, in order to uniformly provide medical care of good quality in Japan.

A 71-year old male visited our hospital with a chief complaint of pollakisuria. The needle biopsies of the prostate were performed with PSA 8.0 ng/ml, and he was diagnosed as moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. Imaging techniques revealed a right complete duplicated upper urinary system with an ectopic ureter draining to the prostatic urethra. He received radical prostatectomy with concomitant anastomosis of ureter to ureter. There is no evidence of hydronephrosis or tumor recurrence 11 months after operation. This is, to our knowledge, the second case report describing the association of radical prostatectomy and ectopic ureter.

We report a case of giant condyloma with malignant degeneration. A 56-year-old male was referred to our hospital due to a penile infection that was resistant to antibiotic therapy for more than a year. The swelling appeared to be a penile cancer. We suspected malignancy and performed penile biopsies twice; however, the histopathological diagnosis was condyloma acuminatum and malignant findings were absent. We continued the antibiotic therapy for 3 months; however, no improvement was achieved. Therefore, total penectomy and urinary diversion were performed. The pathological diagnosis of the resected tissues was not only condyloma but also squamous cell carcinoma, and cancer cells appeared on the cut surface of the specimens. We added radiation therapy. There was no evidence of recurrence or metastasis at 18 months after surgery.

We report a case of retroperitoneal liposarcoma. A 66-year-old male was referred to our hospital for a retroperitoneal tumor that was detected during gallbladder stone examination. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an extrarenal lipomatous tumor, 20 x 14 x 8 cm in size, in the right retroperitoneal space. He underwent surgical excision of the tumor with concomitant resection of the right kidney and adrenal gland. The resected tissue weighed 730 g. Histological examination revealed a well differentiated liposarcoma. He received no adjuvant therapy.

A 72-year-old man referred our hospital with the chief complaint of macroscopic hematuria. He had undergone simple left nephrectomy for left renal stone when he was 27-years-old. His urine cytology showed class IIIb. They were 4 times. We performed random biopsy of the bladder and retrograde pyelography of the right But they were no positive findings for the cause of hematuria and for the existence of malignancy. After 2 months, he had macroscopic hematuria again. Cystoscopic re-examination revealed a fibrin out of the residual left ureteral orifice. Computed tomographic scan showed a perivesical mass. The diagnosis was the carcinoma of the ureteral stump. We performed ureterectomy. The pathological study revealed the undifferentiated carcinoma. This case is the first report of the undifferentiated carcinoma occurred on the residual ureteral stump in the Japanese literature.

Objective: The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that periconceptional consumption of folic acid will reduce risks of having babies afflicted with Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) in the year of 2000. We assessed awareness of the role of folic acid among urologists and a patient group, how urologists give advices on lifestyle to young women, and what lifestyle the patient group currently maintains., Materials and Methods: A postal questionnaire survey was conducted involving 400 urologists randomly selected and a group of 250 female patients afflicted with NTDS and 250 mothers who had given birth to babies having NTDs during the past 7 years. Eighty-four percent of urologists aged 40 years and over and 76% of the patient group aged in their 20s and 30s. Response rates were 56% in the former and 52% in the later., Results: Twenty-six percent of urologists and 92% of the patient group knew an important role folic acid played in prevention of neural tube defects. While 10% of urologists advised to consume multi-vitamins containing folic acid or folic acid supplements, 25% of myelodysplastics and the mothers took them. Sixty-eight percent of doctors advised to take well-balanced food and 82% of the patent group answered that they do. Over 80% of the doctors and the patient group believed that a folic acid campaign is to be organized to inform young women of childbearing age of possible reduction of the risk., Conclusion: It is found that proportion of urologists who are aware of a role of periconceptional consumption of folic acid is significantly lower than that of the group of patients (p < 0.0001). Urologists are expected to recognize specific benefits of folic acid in the prevention of NTDs, to advise young women of childbearing age to take well-balanced meals, and to recommend those who wish to be pregnant to consume 400 micrograms of folic acid supplements from 4 weeks before to 12 weeks after conception.

We report a patient whose irritable bladder symptoms following Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) instillation were satisfactorily treated by steroid administration. A 59-year-old male had undergone transurethral resection for the bladder carcinoma recurred three times. The histopathological examination revealed the tumor as transitional cell carcinoma, G1 to G2, and pTa. Subsequently an instillation of 80 mg BCG into the bladder was planned 8 times every 7 days. After the 5th instillation he presented with gross hematuria, painful micturition, pollakisuria, urgency and reduced bladder capacity of 15 ml. The dose was reduced to 40 mg and another 3 instillations were accomplished. Since conventional treatments of anti-cholinergics, analgesics and epidural anesthesia were of little help for the subjective symptoms, he was put on the steroid pulse therapy 2 weeks after completion of the BCG regimen. The treatment gradually improved the subjective symptoms and increased the bladder capacity up to 160 ml. In conclusion, we believe that the steroid pulse therapy deserves considering in the early stage of irritable bladder symptoms following BCG instillation.

Objectives: Risk of having fetus affected with neural tube defects can be reduced by maternal periconceptional folic acid supplementation. The purpose of the present study is to investigate how folate is taken from diets and to measure plasma folate concentrations., Subjects and Methods: A total of 222 women comprising 5 groups, i.e., healthy women, mothers of myelodysplastic patients, pregnant women, myelodysplastic patients, nurse students, participated in our study. Food frequency questionnaires kept 3 days were analyzed based on the 5th standard table of food composition in Japan. Plasma folate concentrations were measured by means of chemiluminescent immunoassay method. Changes in plasma folate concentrations and possible adverse effects following the folic acid supplementation for 16 weeks were also investigated., Results: The dietary intake of folate, plasma folate concentration and energy intake averaged 293 micrograms/day, 8.1 ng/ml and 1,857 Kcal, respectively, among the subjects. Pregnant women took the largest amount of folate from diets and demonstrated the highest plasma folate concentration among the groups. The dietary folate in myelodysplastic patients and nurse students was significantly lower compared to that of healthy women. The Recommended Dietary Allowance of folate was not fulfilled in 22% of non-pregnant adult women and 72% of pregnant women. The dietary folate was mainly taken from the 3rd food group but the 4th group of food was consumed most. Mean folate intake was significantly correlated with circulating concentrations of serum folate (p = 0.012 r = 0.186). The consecutive administration of 400 micrograms supplements for 16 weeks increased a baseline plasma value of 8.7 ng/ml to 32.6 but fell down rapidly to 17.3 24 hours later without any adverse effects., Conclusions: The dietary folate and serum folate concentrations averaged 293 micrograms/day and 8.1 ng/ml, respectively. The former is the first report based on the 5th standard table of food composition in Japan. Majority of pregnant women took less dietary folate than what recommended by the government. Those who are capable of becoming pregnant are recommended to consume much of the 3rd food group and those who are planning to become pregnant are recommended to take 400 micrograms of folic acid supplements from 4 weeks before to 12 weeks after conception.

Objective: To evaluate incidence and treatments of urolithiasis in myelodysplastic patients., Patients and Methods: During the past 27 years 303 myelodysplastic patients, 160 men and 143 women, have been treated and 50 of them were operated on with bladder augmentation procedures. Their medical records were retrospectively reviewed., Results: Urolithiasis occurred 20 times in 15 patients, 11 men and 4 women, where calculi developed 18 times in the bladder and twice in the kidney. Prevalence of urolithiasis was 20% (10/50) in those who had undergone bladder augmentation and 2% (5/253) in those who had not had this surgery, where the difference was statistically significant between the two groups (p < 0.01). Overall, 5% of all the patients suffered from stones in the urinary tract. Bladder calculi were endoscopically treated in 11 occasions or were resolved with suprapubic lithotomy in 4 cases. Small stones in the bladder were spontaneously delivered 3 times and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was necessary for a renal calculus in one patient. The last patient having a renal stone has been put under care. Majority of stone compositions consisted of magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP)., Conclusion: It was found that urolithiasis was 10 times more prevalent in those patients operated on with enterocystoplasty than those without bladder augmentation and that intermittent clean catheterization and regular bladder irrigation were of necessity to prevent urolithiasis for those having enterocystoplasty.