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Considering the natural course of cavernous nerve recovery following robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP), early intervention of low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy (LIESWT) would be more effective for enhancing overall recovery of potency. We analyzed longitudinally alterations in sexual function in patients after RARP, with focus on the effect of early and delayed intervention with LIESWT. This study was open-label prospective study. Four patients after RARP were enrolled into this study's protocol over a period between January and June 2017. This early intervention was performed three times a week for two weeks in admission and one time per week in our out patient clinic for six weeks. For the purpose of setting a control group, the same surgeon performed RARP on 4 patients over a period between June 2012 and December 2014. These patients received LIESWT and this delayed protocol was same as that by Vardi et al. The same surgeon performed RARP on 100 patients over a period between April 2012 and February 2015. These patients were assigned to the non-LIESWT group for setting another control group. Sexual function (SF) was assessed with the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC). A validated form of self-reported questionnaire was administered to the inpatients before RARP, and mailed to all patients receiving RARP at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after RARP. There was no significant inter-group difference in the baseline patient characteristics and surgical outcomes. The mean duration from RARP to the start of penile rehabilitation was 6 months for patients of the delayed LIESWT group. The SF score was significantly higher at preoperative, postoperative 6 and 9 months (p=0.0024, 0.0001, and 0.0004) in the early-LIESWT group. The SF score of early-LIESWT was significantly higher than that of delayed-LIESWT at postoperative 6 and 9 months (19.7 vs. 7.4; p = 0.0153, 26.2 vs. 6.1; p = 0.0154). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the SF score between delayed and non-LIESWT groups at all time points. Our findings show that penile rehabilitation with LIESWT immediately before urethral catheter removal improved sexual function scores. Our preliminary results suggest that LIESWT could be used as a treatment option in penile rehabilitation. Work supported by industry: no. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undernutrition and cachexia have been suggested to be risk factors for postoperative complications and survival in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to investigate whether body mass index ( BMI) is related to the short-term and long-term outcomes in patients who undergo an esophagectomy for the resection of esophageal squamous cell cancer ( ESCC). Three hundred forty patients who underwent an esophagectomy for the resection of ESCC between 2003 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: an L-BMI group characterized by a BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 and an N-BMI group characterized by a BMI ≥ 18.5 kg/m2. Clinical and pathological outcome were compared between groups. The study included 40 patients in the L-BMI group and 300 patients in the N-BMI group. A clinicopathological assessment showed that nodal involvement was seen more frequently in the L-BMI group ( P = 0.016). Pulmonary complications seemed to occur more frequently in the L-BMI group ( P = 0.006). The 5-year overall survival rate was higher in the N-BMI group (63.6%) than in the L-BMI group (32.3%) ( P < 0.001). The 5-year disease-free survival rate was also higher in the N-BMI group (58.0%) than in the L-BMI group (33.6%) ( P = 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the BMI (hazard ratio, 2.154; 95% CI, 1.349-3.440, P = 0.001) was found to be an independent prognostic factor for overall survival. Our data suggested that a lower BMI not only increased pulmonary complications but also impaired overall and disease-free survival after an esophagectomy for the resection of ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The purpose of this work was to identify and genetically characterize enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) O80:H2 from diarrhoeic and septicaemic calves in Belgium and to comparing them with human EHEC after whole genome sequencing. Methods and Results: Ten EHEC and 21 EPEC O80 identified by PCR between 2009 and 2018 from faeces, intestinal content and a kidney of diarrhoeic or septicaemic calves were genome sequenced and compared to 19 human EHEC identified between 2008 and 2019. They all belonged to the O80:H2 serotype and ST301, harboured the eaeξ gene, and 23 of the 29 EHEC contained the stx2d gene. Phylogenetically, they were distributed in two major sub‐lineages: one comprised a majority of bovine EPEC whereas the second one comprised a majority of stx2d bovine and human EHEC. Conclusions: Not only EPEC but also EHEC O80:H2 are present in diarrhoeic and septicaemic calves in Belgium and are genetically related to human EHEC. Significance and Impact of the Study: These findings support the need to assess cattle as potential source of contamination of humans by EHEC O80:H2 and to understand the evolution of bovine and human EHEC and EPEC O80:H2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]