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Objective To assess urethral vascularization in healthy young women, using colour Doppler ultrasonography. Subjects and methods Eleven healthy young women volunteers (mean age 33.6 years, range 24–46) with no pelvic floor disorders and no history of incontinence were assessed. The subjects underwent colour Doppler ultrasonography using a 4–7 MHz convex broadband transducer. Translabial sagittal scans of the urethra were taken when the subjects had a full bladder, both during the oestrogenic and progestogenic phases. The colour Doppler ultrasonography parameters were optimized to detect slow flows in the anterior and posterior distal, middle and proximal urethra. A rank-sum nonparametric test was used to assess differences between the resistive indices. Results The statistical evaluation showed a significant difference in the resistive index only in the anterior urethra, between the distal and middle plus proximal urethra, in both the progestogenic (P = 0.002) and oestrogenic (P = 0.0127) phases. Conclusions This study confirmed that the vascularization of the urethra plays an important role in the ‘seal’ effect, which is considered one of the most important factors in urethral closure. There was a significantly greater resistive index in the anterior proximal urethra than in the middle and distal urethra. These findings suggest that the seal effect is related to the existence of a rich venous urethral vascularization, involved in the mechanism of urethral closure. Colour Doppler ultrasonography of the urethra seems to be feasible and useful for understanding the mechanism of the vascular component in female continence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the Bone Mineral Areal mass (BMA) in the calcaneus of male patients with unilateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury before and after reconstruction and to assess whether the BMA ratio or the BMA of the injured and uninjured side correlated with the level of activity, functional performance or the time period between the injury and the reconstruction. Ninety-two male patients with unilateral ACL injury were included in the study. The BMA was analysed immediately prior to surgery: a median of 11(2-192) months after the injury in 30 patients aged 26(15-41) years scheduled for primary ACL reconstruction (Group A). Forty-nine patients aged 29(18-49) years had their BMA analysed a median of 24 (2329) months after the primary ACL reconstruction (Group C). The median BMA ratio (injured side/uninjured side) was 96(88-105)% in Group A, 96(86-118)% in Group B and 95(83-111)% in Group C. In all three groups, the median BMA value in the calcaneus was significantly lower on the injured side compared with the uninjured side (P=0.001, P=0.0003, P=0.01 in Groups A, B and C, respectively). The time period between the injury and the reconstruction neither correlated with the BMA ratio nor the BMA of the injured or the uninjured side in Group A. The level of activity as measured by the Tegner activity level and the functional performance as measured by the one-leg-hop quotient did not correlate with the BMA ratio in any of the groups. In the 49 patients with a primary ACL reconstruction (Group B), the post-operative Tegner activity level correlated with the BMA, on both the injured and uninjured side (P=0.0003, P=0.0005, respectively), when the BMA was assessed two years after the index operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the urethrocutaneous fistula as a severe complication of treatment of priapism. Performance of operation for Achilles tendon rupture under spinal anesthesia; Use of a three-layer microsurgical technique; Cause of veno-occlusive priapism.