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We evaluated urethral and prostatic urological endoscopical surgery in Day Hospital, following rules proposed by Veneto Region in 1996. We made surgical treatments for urethral strictures, BPH obstruction, and sclerosis of the bladder neck in 44 patients (age: 67-84). Laser therapy and classical surgical techniques were used. Our results were good: complete resolution of obstruction, lack of bleeding, early catheter removal, and acceptable costs.

Obstructive azoospermia is a common cause of sterility in men. In the past infection played an important role in the aetiology of obstructive azoospermia. Recently, however, the aetiology of obstructive azoospermia appears to be changing. So iatrogenic obstructive azoospermia has reached an important role in the field of obstructive azoospermia. In this work we show international literature about iatrogenic obstructive azoospermia. Unfortunately it is poor, in spite of an interesting item. We divided iatrogenic obstructive azoospermia into six groups, considering the possible anatomical site of obstruction. So we show the possible damages at the different levels: testis, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate and ejaculatory ducts.

Ileal orthotopic neobladder represents, nowadays, the best urinary diversion after cystectomy. Emikock procedure was performed, in our institution, in 26 patients with bladder cancer T2-T4. At 6-60 months of follow-up 3 pts were died with local or at distance neoplastic recurrence, 2 were alive with neoplasms and 21 were NED. Nocturnal continence was good in 22 cases (88%) and only 3 patients were obstructed because of pseudodyssynergia in 2 and stricture in 1. Emikock neobladder even if needs a longer surgical time than other procedure and a long ileal tract is almost free from severe metabolic disorders. This technique offers a good protection of high urinary tract because of antireflux nipple and avoid the uretero-intestinal stricture. It not feasible, now, to know the functional trend of this reservoir on the long term. Adequate postoperative training is recommended to avoid the pseudodyssynergia and functional obstruction of reservoir.

Vacuum therapy is a reversible, non-invasive form of treatment for partial impotence, with great success in USA. The story of vacuum therapy begins about 1960, when Osbon developed a vacuum tumescence device which he personally used for more than 20 years. The device was made commercially available many years ago and has been marketed under several names. The newer systems have incorporated a negative pressure pump to achieve vacuum. Osbon's system was patented in 1983, sale is permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it is available by prescription only. More than 10,000 units have been sold. There are four different types of vacuum therapy: 1) loading cone + constriction band; 2) external splint + negative pressure; 3) Negative pressure + constriction band; 4) Negative pressure + intracavernous injections, without the use of constriction band. Each basic system will be described. The authors make a comparison between the use of negative pressure devices plus tension band and the use of negative pression devices without tension band (plus C.I.D. with vaso-active agents). In the second case there's a sort of synergistic action between vaso-active agents and vacuum therapy, representing a sort of "vaso-active exercise" of the erectile tissue. There are no absolute contraindications to use of external penile devices and potential contraindications are few. The external penile devices described represent a reversible therapeutic modality that can augment an inadequate erection and they should prove useful in any man who needs erectile enhancement. These devices appear to be particularly effective in men with partial impotence in whom only erectile enhancement is needed.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a new diagnostic technique with great opportunities of application in the field of the penile pathologies. A new interest for this diagnostic technique was born when the use of vasoactive agents, like papaverine or PGE1, and the use of para-magnetic contrast agents, like gadolinium, were introduced. The introduction of dynamic NMR in andrology allowed a better definition of anatomical details and a better knowledge of penile micro-circulation. N.M.R. is showing a great diffusion, because of a little invasiveness (X-rays are not used in this technique). The Authors show a wide spread of possible applications of NMR in penile pathologies, helping in the interpretation of the images. In conclusion the authors describe NMR as a diagnostic technique with great possibilities of improvement, even if the high costs don't allow a better diffusion until now.

Authors review principles and occurrence of sex-impairment correlated with neoplasia and related treatments. Main altering effects appear due to chemotherapy and hormone manipulation, but even surgery and radiotherapy, as well as supportive care are able to induce sex dysfunctions, either physically or psychologically. A specific grading scale (with increasing intensity from 0 to 4) is proposed, following general WHO suggestions in medical oncology, with the aim of recording and prospectively evaluating clinical data in a reproducible fashion.

The recent clinical and experimental research innovations in Andrology make possible the following classification of impotence: "Failure to initiate" "Failure to store" "Failure to fill" The last aspect, including veno-occlusive dysfunction, is continuously reevaluated by andrologic studies. The main diagnostic procedure of this complex problem, in constant evolution, is represented by cavernometry. Recently, but with full success, we are utilizing direct radioisotopic penogram in video sexy stimulation: in preselection function but probably in future with substitutive function of the more invasive and traditional cavernometry. In spite of this methodologic progress the findings of cavernometry are in continuous discussion as in tumultuous evolution, in anatomo-physiological environment, is the intracavernous district that, for many aspects, necessity of ulterior histochemical, pharmacodynamic and neurophysiological acknowledgements.

Surgery of hypospadias represents an interesting field of innovatory ideas. Many methods may be suitable and many modifications can be performed. There is no one method for all kinds of hypospadias. It is necessary to find the right method for each patient. The result often depends upon the experience of the surgeon with a particular method. The choice between straightening and urethroplasty in one or two stages depends on cost-benefit ratio and evolution at distance of the straightening must be taken into account as well tissue consumption imposed by the urethroplasty, with one stage straightening that makes reintervention very difficult. In the latter case, a multi-stage operation will be necessary with flaps for urethroplasty after the straightening, or, in a more developed penis, a shortening operation according to Nesbit. With two-stage method, in case of relapsed curvature, this can easily be treated, if tissue is available. For a good result of urethroplasty the ability of surgeon, a constant calibration of the canal, plenty of elastic tissue for the neo-urethra, care not to suture on these planes, are highly important. In our opinion Duplay's method observes these requisites. Two-stages surgery allows easy correction of any eventual relapsing incurvature, with no problems for the following urethroplasty. One-stage surgery allows the problems to be resolved in a single surgical Step, but involves the risk of tissue consumption and proximal stricture.

The radical surgical option we propose for Peyronie's disease consists in removing the sclero-hyalinotic focus of disease and replacing it by an autologous dermal graft taken from the upper outer thigh area. Between 1981 and 1991, we operated 335 patients with IPP, 152 of whom underwent plaque excision and dermal graft. All could be assessed at two-year follow-up. Two main complications were observed: mild penile flexure due to scar retraction of the graft (35% of cases), and partial erectile deficit with decreased corporal rigidity (17% of cases). The degree of the graft retraction is linked to the individual's histologic response. A mild deviation of the penis can occur some months after surgery and is not a relapse flexure due to disease progression (as it should have evolutive characteristics) but is mere scar retraction and will spontaneously regress. As the patient will date the onset of a postoperative erectile deficit from the time of the operation, it is advisable to assess preoperatively the erectile ability of all patients. Furthermore, an impaired erectile response could result from hypoaesthesia of the glans, post-surgical stress, and fibrosis of the erectile tissue. A retrospective assessment of radical surgery cases involving plaque excision and dermal graft lead us to propose this option where precise indications apply, providing the presence of other alterations of the erectile function are pre-operatively assessed.

The Authors try to show the possibility to combine radical excision with minimal invasiveness in the surgery of penile cancer. The focal point of every therapeutic decision is correct clinical staging. Unfortunately there's some confusion in the two international staging systems (TNM and Jackson's classification). In fact it's not clear the anatomical difference between epithelioma of the glans infiltrating corpus spongiosum and subcoronary epithelioma of the shaft infiltrating the corpora cavernosa. It's obvious that the infiltration of the corpora cavernosa is a far more aggressive oncological manifestation than that of tumour infiltrating the corpus spongiosum. So we consider Jackson's classification more congenial. In terms of surgery this anatomical independence makes it easy to consider the corpora cavernosa as a distinct entity, so they remain perfectly functional when separated from the glandulo-spongio-urethral unit with its vasculo-nervous bundle. This makes conservation of the erectile function, when clinical staging show us that the tumour is not infiltrating the corpora cavernosa. The Authors show their results, which seem to be rather good.

Veno-occlusive dysfunction (formerly called "venous leakage") is a clinical-radiographic manifestation of a multi-aetiology syndrome, the pathogenesis of which is to be sought in intrinsic damage to the erectile tissue. It has been attributed to psycho-neurogenic, neurovascular and local--physical factors. The unsatisfactory results of the various surgical techniques proposed (venous ligatures, crural plication, corporopexy) can be explained by the formation of vicarious venous circles, a phenomenon which occurs regardless of the type of procedure adopted and which is the direct consequence of the alteration of the occlusive mechanisms intrinsic to the erectile tissue. At the Urological Institute of the University of Milan, a study has been carried out with the aim of experimentally assessing these aetiopathogenetic hypotheses. 48 sexually potent patients were selected from those scheduled for extensive surgical procedures on account of malignant pathologies of the pelvic cavity (urethro-prostato-cystectomy, radical prostatectomy). The protocol included a series of examinations before and after the operation (at three months): computerised recording of nocturnal erections (NPT test, three consecutive nights), dynamic penile Doppler velocimetry, dynamic cavernosometry/graphy, examination of bulbocavernosus reflex. The goal of the study was to evaluate the haemodynamic consequences of the massive venous ligatures effected during these operations (periprostatic plexus, deep dorsal vein, spongio-cavernous connections). There were 28 cases of radical prostatectomy and 20 cases of radical urethro-prostato-cystectomy. Among the cases of radical prostatectomy, the extrafascial retropubic technique was used for 14 patients, the monolateral nerve-sparing procedure was applied for 10 patients (stage B1) and the transperineal approach was used for 4 patients (the most recent).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The present treatment of the subacute abatteric prostatitis, prostatodinia, prostatosis (the most common prostatic flogistic diseases) is represented by the transrectal applications of infrared Laser. The concrete opportunity of applying such an energy directly to the prostate in cases of flogistic diseases--a very frequent pathology treated in many different and controversial ways--is a stimulating therapeutical method which we tested and that we presently use in our clinics. The thanks to the realization of an high technology equipment, easy to handle, cheap, safe, perfectly suitable, formed by a new infrared Laser probe, transrectal, atermical, made by a optical fibre, which we present. Micturition, ejaculation, fertility may draw a relevant improvement, provided that the same treatment is performed after a specific medical diagnosis and following a strict protocol.

The anatomo-functional modifications of the prostate and the seminal pathways during the genital apparatus aging, (prostatic hyperplasia and hypotrophy of the seminal pathways and testis), are caused by hormonal modifications (inconstant increase of the gonadotropins LH-FSH, decrease of the peripheric utilization of testosterone, alterations of the adrenal secretion), by anatomical involutions (degenerations of the glandular, stromal and vascular components).

After the remark of the own results on an epidemiological research about andropausal sexual problems, the Authors analyze the alterations of ejaculatory mechanism with elderly, focusing frequency and etiopathogenesis. They underline the need of prevention of ejaculatory disturbances deriving from chronic disease or of iatrogenic origin.

Presence of bacteria in the sperm is often associated to a reduction of fertility in relationship with a decrease in number and motility of spermatozoa and with an augmentation of the abnormal spermatic cells. Clinical features of seminal phlogosis are extremely variable both in acute and chronic evolutions. In every case the first diagnostical step is sperm count and seminal complete analysis which can give evidence of phlogistic alteration in quantity and quality of spermatic cells with a typical presence of an excess in white blood cells (leucospermia) as consequence of infection. The great variety in clinical and bacteriological aspects and the particular biological features of the organs involved, as the prostate, make treatment a difficult problem to solve with particular regard to the choice of an effective antibiotic which pharmacokinetic has to result suitable for the microorganism as well as for the tissue of the infection site. All those efforts are indispensable to reduce the too frequent therapeutical failures in the management of seminal phlogistic pathology with complications of organic but also pathological relevancy for the patient and the partner too.

In the therapy of vasculogenic impotence, the Vacuum Device has been proposed up to now as an "external" prosthesis device with the aim of obtaining a penile erection of sufficient rigidity for penetration, in patients afflicted by vascular or neurological disorders. In the eighties, the experience gained with the use of Intra Cavernous Injections (C.I.D.) (using papaverine, phentolamine and prostaglandin), demonstrated not to be an exclusively palliative therapy ("pharmacological prosthesis"), but to represent as well a sort of "vasoactive exercise" of the erectile tissue. In the nineties, many wondered what could be a valid alternative to the C.I.D. Taking this into consideration, we modified the method of application of Vacuum Therapy. The device was used once a day without the constrictive band applied to the penis root, in order to generate a passive action on the erectile tissue, a sort of "stretching" for the smooth muscle fibers. From January 1990 to December 1991, we treated 78 pts. afflicted by erectile failure. The patients were divided into 3 groups (26 each) of distinct therapy: the first was treated weekly with only endocavernous papaverine administration (20 mg.), the second underwent daily Vacuum Therapy exclusively (10'-15') and the third received a combined therapy: Vacuum Device, daily and C.I.D. with Papaverine (20 mg.) once a week. The results of this treatment are as follows: the patients who underwent Vacuum Therapy daily (2nd and 3rd groups) showed, at the end of the treatment (6 months), a significant improvement in spontaneous erectile ability (14 Pts.-53.8% in the 2nd group; 17 Pts-65.3% in the 3rd group).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Surgical therapy is the only useful correction in congenital fibrosis or in hypoplasia of the 'corpora cavernosa', associated with hypospadia or not. On the contrary in not congenital fibrosis of the 'corpora cavernosa' (Peyronie's disease, consequences of priapism, or trauma, complications of pharmaco-prosthesis) are allowed pharmaco-physical treatments (infiltrations, ionophoresis, ultrasound, laser). Pharmaco-physical therapy can be used as the only treatment, which is often resolutive, but it is also useful before or after the surgical operation of the 'corpora cavernosa'. These diseases can give disorders of the erection, until complete impotence is reached. In fact the erectile tissue can't expand, because of the rising fibrosclerosis. Among acquired fibrosis of corpora cavernosa I.P.P. has surely the greatest recurrent: the consistency of our series made possible to achieve significant results with a unified therapeutical protocol. The same management was applied in other, less frequent, penile fibrosis, always with full positive results even if on a small number of patients. We are evaluating a new drug (defibrotide) in the treatment of cavernosal vasculitis. Another one (hyaluronidase) associated to orgotein, could improve its effect against inflammation especially in chronic evolutions. Besides new treatments, we emphasize the prevention of iatrogenic fibrosis with particular regard to cavernous pharmaco-infusions by autoinjections: the training of the patient and the safety of the autoinjectors must be carefully checked by the andrologist to decrease a large amount of complications.

After having emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary diagnostic approach to the sexual impotence as a symptom and having made some comments about the erection's physiology, the Authors, according to their experience, take drugs into consideration for elective treatment of sexual intercourse.

Diagnosis in cryptorchidism should be as early as possible for therapeutical purposes and for the achievement of most positive results. Early but also exact diagnosis allows a selective therapy concerning type of procedure and age of performance. Aims of early diagnosis and selected treatment are: prevention of infertility and eventual decrease of androgenic endocrinal function in the adult; prevention of torsion in retractile testis; prevention of trauma in perineal ectopic situation; prevention of cancer especially in cryptorchidism of the adult; prevention of psychogenic defects of the empty scrotum. Those goals can be obtained by different approaches: pharmacological (hormonal stimulation), surgical (orchidopexy) or by their association. If hormonal administration is not suitable or without results surgical approach will be adopted. Which is now the most suitable age for surgery? Testicular damages begin at the second year of life. Therefore operation should be acted in advance. However, up to date international acknowledgement is in favour of surgical management around the fourth year for the advantages of a more mature anatomical situation without reducing quality of results. Purpose of early diagnosis and selective therapy in cryptorchidism is to avoid irreversibility of severe histological alteration able to compromise gonadal, especially germinal, function. It is never to forget that the high level of infertility in cryptorchidism can be depending not only on evident alteration in number, motility and morphology of spermatozoa but also on morphofunctional defects escaping from the routine seminal examination. All that is in tight connection with the intrinsic dysmorphism in cryptorchism where the abnormal position of the testis is only a partial aspect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)