Two-Stage Penile Reconstruction after Paraffin Injection: A Case Report and a Systematic Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: Penile injection of foreign materials is an obsolete practice often performed by non-medical personnel in order to enlarge penile size. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature from 1956 to 2022 was conducted in accordance with the general guidelines recommended by the Primary Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. We included full papers published from 1956 to 2022. We also described a case report of a 23 year old Bulgarian male affected by penile paraffinoma who underwent a 2-stages surgical technique. RESULTS: A total of 152 cases have been reported, with a median age of 37.9 ranging from 18 to 64 years. Six different techniques have been described in the whole literature: bilateral scrotal flap, simple excision of the paraffinoma with primary closure, two-stage scrotum skin flap, medial prepuce-soprapubic advancement flap technique and penile reconstruction using split thickness skin graft (STSG) or full thickness skin graft (FTSG). An analysis of the distribution among early and late complications was then carried out. CONCLUSION: In our experience, among the variety of surgical techniques described, a two-stage penile reconstruction using scrotal skin results in excellent cosmetic and functional outcomes, with a low rate of complications.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy in association with bromelain and escin for the management of patients affected by chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has been purposed for the management of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) with encouraging results. Phytotherapeutic compounds have been used in everyday clinical practice for patients with CP/CPSS due to their anti-inflammatory properties. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ESWT in association with the use of bromelain and escin extracts in patients with CP/CPSS. For this purpose, 95 patients with a clinical diagnosis of CP/CPSS were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly allocated to either the ESWT plus bromelain and escin group (group A; n=48) or the ESWT only group (group B; n=47). A total of five weekly ESWT treatment sessions were administered alone or in combination with bromelain and escin. Each session consisted of 3,000 focused shock waves. Doses of 160 and 500 mg/day bromelain and escin were administered respectively for 5 weeks. The changes in urinary symptoms, pain and quality of life were considered the main outcome measures and were assessed at baseline, and at 4, 12 and 24 weeks of follow-up. Urinary symptoms, pain and quality of life were evaluated using the international prostatic symptoms score (IPSS), visual analog scale (VAS) and the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI). After 4 weeks, the mean VAS score, mean IPSS and mean satisfaction rate score had significantly improved in patients receiving ESWT plus bromelain and escin. After 12 weeks, the mean IPSS and mean satisfaction rate score were stable in the ESWT plus bromelain and escin group, while the mean VAS score was significantly lower when compared with the baseline values in both groups. On the whole, the present study demonstrates that in patients affected by CP/CPPS, treatment with ESWT plus bromelain and escin leads to pain resolution, and both treatments improve the IPSS, VAS and NIH-CPSI results.

COVID-19 Quarantine Dramatically Affected Male Sexual Behavior: Is There a Possibility to Go Back to Normality?

We performed a monocentric longitudinal study on sexually active male patients, from May 2021 to October 2021, with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed with a nasopharyngeal reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The questionnaires were delivered by email. The study period was divided into the periods before getting tested (T1), during quarantine (T2), 1 month after a negative test (T3), and 3 months after a negative test (T4). All participants were invited to complete these questionnaires: 10- and 6-item questionnaires, a sexual distress schedule (SDS), and the international index of erectile function questionnaire of 15 items (IIEF-15). The primary endpoint was to evaluate the impact of quarantine on male sexual function (SF) during and after the SARS-CoV-2 infection. A total of 22 male patients met the inclusion criteria. The differences for both SDS and IIEF-15 scores, between T1−T2 (27 (IQR 24.0−32.2) vs. 37.5 (IQR 34.2−45.5), 45 (IQR 38.0−50.2) vs. 28.5 (IQR 19.5−38.0)), T2−T3 (37.5 (IQR 34.2−45.5) vs. 28 (IQR 24.0−31.0), and 28.5 (IQR 19.5−38.0) vs. 39.5 (IQR 35.5−44.2)) were statistically significant (p < 0.001), respectively. Moreover, between T1−T4, no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) was recorded in both SDS (27 (IQR 24.0−32.2) vs. 26.5 (IQR 24−30.2)) and IIEF-15 (45 (IQR 38.0−50.2) vs. 28.5 (IQR 19.5−38.0)). In 20 patients (90.9%), SARS-CoV-2 had a huge impact on relationship and sexual life, but no patient attended a clinic for sexual difficulties. In conclusion quarantine has negatively influenced SF in infected patients; however, 3 months after the rRT-PCR negative test, a promising return to the preinfection SF values is observed.

Thyroid hormone and androgen signals mutually interplay and enhance inflammation and tumorigenic activation of tumor microenvironment in prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed non-cutaneous cancer in males and the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. The majority of PCas are androgen-sensitive, with a significant up-regulation of Androgen Receptor (AR) that causes a stimulatory effect on growth and progression of cancer cells. For this reason, the first-line therapy for PCa is androgen ablation, even if it ultimately fails due to the onset of hormone-refractory state, in which the malignant cells do not sense the androgen signal anymore. Besides androgens, a growing number of evidence suggests that Thyroid Hormones (THs) mediate tumor-promoting effects in a variety of human cancers, as Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), invasion and metastasis and also stimulation of angiogenesis and tumor metabolism. Moreover, epidemiological studies demonstrated an increased risk for PCa in patients with lower levels of Thyreotropin (TSH). Here, we investigated if intracellular TH metabolism affects Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and PCa formation and progression. We found that the intracellular TH metabolism is a crucial determinant of PCa behavior. We observed that a dynamic stage-specific expression of the THs modulating enzymes, the deiodinases, is required for the progression of BPH to PCa malignancy. By acting simultaneously on epithelial cancer cells and fibroblasts, THs exert a proliferative and pro-inflammatory effect cooperating with androgens. These findings suggest that androgens and THs may interplay and mediate a coordinate effect on human PCa formation and progression. In light of our results, future perspective could be to explore the potential benefits of THs intracellular modulators aimed to counteract PCa progression.

YouTube as a source of information on penile prosthesis.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of information on YouTube regarding penile prosthesis. We searched the term 'penile prosthesis' on YouTube recording the first 100 video links. Each video was analysed by three evaluators through the validate Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT), the DISCERN quality criteria for consumer health information and a misinformation assessment tool specifically created for this subject. All the videos were viewed 10'011'232 times. Median duration time was 5'13″ (IQR = 7'25″-1'58″). Sixty-eight per cent were nonsurgical videos and 32% of them contained surgical procedures. Most of the videos were uploaded by Private Companies (51%). Videos were primarily directed at patients (73 of 100 videos). The mean PEMAT understandability score was 57.8% ± 19.2%, the actionability score was 0% (IQR = 33%-0%). The median DISCERN score was 26 (IQR = 30-21). None of the videos provided a complete patients' information and the overall mean misinformation score was 3.21 ± 2.24. Based on our data, video's quality according to PEMAT and DISCERN score is mostly poor. Furthermore popularity does not correlate with the quality of the videos, and most of them fail to provide adequate patient's information.

'Hanger­shaped' scrotectomy: A novel technique for the management of penoscrotal lymphedema: A case report.

Massive scrotal elephantiasis is a rare disease that usually requires a surgical approach. Lymphedema of the genitalia can have a different presentation that requires different treatment. The present study describes the case of a 43-year-old Caucasian male patient by scrotal elephantiasis of unknown causes with a buried penis. A novel surgical technique was applied for the treatment of massive scrotal elephantiasis and the authors present this single-center experience. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the integrity of the corpora cavernosa, the spermatic cords, as well as the testes. The patient underwent a scrotectomy using a 'hanger-shaped incision' followed by scrotal reconstruction to obtain an adequate cosmetic outcome. The surgical approach to this uncommon disease is referred to as a 'hanger-shaped incision'. As demonstrated herein, this novel technique permits the formation of a trapezoidal cavity that allows the reconstruction of a neo-scrotum, a neo-septum and partially restoring the natural appearance of the genitalia.

Nora's lesion. Clinical and therapeutic considerations.

In this article we report a case of bizarre paraosteal osteochondromatous proliferation (BPOP), also known as Nora's lesion, arising on the distal phalanx of the fifth finger of the hand in a young-adult subject. In this paper, we discuss the possible therapeutic programme related to the grade of severity of the clinical features and underline the rarity of this lesion and the difficulty of diagnosis, which is exclusively histological.