Female urethral stricture: a contemporary series.

PURPOSE: To report the etiology, presenting symptoms and outcomes of the different treatments performed in female patients with recurrent urethral stricture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six patients with refractory LUTS were diagnosed with a urethral stricture. The symptoms, the treatment performed and the outcomes were prospectively recorded. Sixteen patients were treated with a urethroplasty using a buccal mucosal graft (BMG) in 14 cases (54 %) and a vaginal flap in 2 (8 %). Urethral dilatation, optical urethrotomy and meatoplasty were performed in 8 (31 %), 1 (3.8 %) and 1 (3.8 %) patients, respectively. RESULTS: Strictures were idiopathic in 11 patients (42 %). Previous urethral instrumentation and traumatic vaginal delivery were the commonest causes of urethral stricture (42 and 15 %, respectively). The most frequent symptoms were reduced flow (93 %), detrusor overactivity (50 %) and UTIs (42 %). The stricture was cured in 93 % of patients treated with a BMG urethroplasty and in all the patients in which a vaginal flap urethroplasty was performed. In the same group, the improvement in urethral pain was observed in the 67 and the 88 % of patients were cured from recurrent UTIs. All the patients treated with urethral dilatation needed further dilatations; hence, the cure of the stricture was achieved in none of them. Improvement in urethral pain, UTIs and detrusor activity was not recorded in the latter group. CONCLUSION: Urethroplasty in its various forms has demonstrated in the present series the highest cure rate for the treatment of recurrent urethral stricture.

Vesico-Ureteric Junction Obstruction and Calyceal Rupture Secondary to a UroLift Implant.

Prostatic urethral lift is a minimally invasive procedure used to improve the symptoms of benign prostatic enlargement. It utilizes the UroLift device to insert small implants through occlusive lateral lobes of the prostate, thereby creating an open anterior channel through the prostate. We describe a previously unreported complication of UroLift whereby a patient presented with loin pain post-procedure and was found to have a UroLift clip across the vesico-ureteric junction , leading to ureteric obstruction, hydronephrosis and calyceal rupture.

Primary thyroid-like follicular renal cell carcinoma: an emerging entity.

Primary thyroid-like follicular carcinoma of the kidney is a rare but newly emerging histological variant of renal cell carcinoma RCC, with only nine cases reported in the literature to date. We present a further case of this unique condition, discuss the workup and typical histological findings, and review the literature regarding this rare histological variant.

Performance of the LHCb RICH detector at the LHC.

The LHCb experiment has been taking data at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN since the end of 2009. One of its key detector components is the Ring-Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) system. This provides charged particle identification over a wide momentum range, from 2-100 GeV/c. The operation and control, software, and online monitoring of the RICH system are described. The particle identification performance is presented, as measured using data from the LHC. Excellent separation of hadronic particle types (π, K, p) is achieved.

Cytoplasmic NADP-linked dehydrogenase activities in avian tissues.

Cytoplasmic activities of NADP-linked malic enzyme (E.C. 1.1.1.40), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.49) and NADP-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.42) were determined in tissues of selected avian species, and compared with those in mammals. Malic enzyme was generally more active in avian liver and kidney than in the corresponding mammalian tissues. Hepatic activities as high as 200 units/g wet wt and 100 units/g wet wt were recorded in the Nectariniidae and the Ploceidae respectively. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was generally less active in avian tissues than malic enzyme. In passerine birds activities were very low indeed, and in most cases spectrophotometrically undetectable. Malic enzyme and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were highly active in the adipose tissue of mammals but were inactive in the adipose tissue of birds. Marked increases in hepatic malic enzyme and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities were associated in birds with premigratory fattening. Activities of isocitrate dehydrogenase were comparable in the corresponding avian and mammalian tissues, including adipose tissue.