[Technical aspects of nerve sparing during retropubic prostatectomy]. / Aspects techniques de la préservation nerveuse au cours de la prostatectomie rétropubienne.

Retropubic radical prostatectomy is the most commonly used therapeutic option for the treatment of clinically localized prostate cancer. An ongoing stage migration towards organ-confined cancers allows performing a nerve-sparing procedure in a growing number of patients. Key elements for achieving convincing functional results are a sphincter preserving Ligation of the distal part of Santorini's plexus and the subtle preparation of the neurovascular bundle. This article gives a detailed description of the operative technique. Furthermore, a strategy for patient selection and tumour selection for the indication of nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (NSRP) is suggested.

Neuron-specific enolase: a serum tumor marker in renal cell carcinoma?

In previous reports, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) has been considered to be a useful tumor marker in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This led us to perform a prospective clinical trial in this field. NSE was checked as a tumor marker for diagnosis and monitoring of patients with RCC. We report on 55 patients and their NSE level before and after radical nephrectomy and correlated the serum level of NSE to immunohistological staining and clinical stage of nephrectomy specimens. In contrast to other researchers, our results on NSE as a tumor marker in RCC are disappointing.

Idiopathic calcinosis of the scrotum--a specific entity of the scrotal skin. Case report.

A 69 year old patient with relapsing idiopathic scrotal calcinosis (ICS) is presented. Histological evaluation of the excised material showed the typical morphological features of calcified material within the corium. A review of the literature revealed 12 of 75 patients who had evidence of epithelial lining of the corial calcifications. Generally the calcified masses were surrounded by granulation tissue with mononuclear and foreign body giant cells. There is accumulating evidence for dystrophic calcification of cyst rather than an idiopathic genesis.