Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R C Benson.
Flutamide is a non-steroidal anti-androgen which has been used to treat prostate cancer. Results to date indicate that flutamide is as effective as other conventional therapy. It has only moderate activity in patients in whom conventional hormonal therapy has previously failed, but appears to be beneficial when combined with an LHRH agonist.
Forty-one patients underwent penile venous ligation surgery for pure cavernosal venous leakage diagnosed by infusion cavernosometry and cavernosography. Before surgery, arterial integrity was assessed by pelvic angiography, and all patients were found to have a normal penile arterial system. The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of the type of venous operation performed. The overall complete-potency success rate was 46% (19 of 41 patients). Postoperative complications were minimal. Our experience shows that penile venous surgery remains an acceptable option for treatment of carefully selected patients with documented pure cavernosal venous leakage of a mild degree who have no evidence of arterial insufficiency and who do not prefer, or are not suitable for, other medical or surgical treatment options. Patients who had more severe degrees of cavernosal venous leakage had a poor result from this procedure. For patients with moderate to severe venous leakage, we now perform a combined surgical procedure, deep dorsal vein arterialization and venous ligation.
Peyronie's disease was diagnosed in 101 male residents of Rochester, Minnesota between 1950 and 1984. Mean patient age at diagnosis was 53 years. The average age-adjusted annual incidence rate of 25.7 and a prevalence rate of 388.6 per 100,000 male population were noted. The steady increase in incidence with time may reflect an increasing tendency to obtain medical help. However, the possibility of a true increase in the incidence rate cannot be ruled out. An effort was made to identify possible risk factors and other disease associations. Rheumatoid arthritis and hypertension were more common among the patients compared to the Rochester population. In contrast, no excess of diabetes mellitus was observed among patients with Peyronie's disease.
A follow-up study of 224 male patients from Rochester, Minnesota, diagnosed with cryptorchidism during the period from 1935 through 1974 was conducted to assess the frequency of subsequent testicular neoplasms. Age-specific rates for testicular neoplasm in this community were used to estimate an expected number for comparison with that observed. Two malignant testicular neoplasms have occurred in this cohort; thus, the standardized morbidity ratio was 11.4 (95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 41.1). Of the 158 patients born in the community, 11% were known to have birth weights of less than 2,500 g, approximately twice the expected occurrence. Increased risks were also noted for inguinal hernia, hypospadias, Down's syndrome, cleft lip or palate (or both), clubfoot, and congenital heart disease, for which the standardized morbidity ratios were 3.6, 4.7, 17.8, 11.3, 11.7, and 2.7, respectively. The increased risk for malignant neoplasms observed in this cohort of patients with cryptorchidism is consistent with that found in earlier studies.
MR imaging can be used to confirm the presence of most gross fetal anomalies detected by sonography in the second and third trimesters. The MR imaging findings in 25 cases of fetal anomalies first identified on sonography are illustrated.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a new and innovative approach to the treatment of malignant disease. This treatment modality involves administration of a photosensitizer, which is retained in malignant tissue, followed by exposure of that tissue to light corresponding to one of the absorption bands of the drug, with resultant cell death. Several photosensitizers are currently under study, but haematoporphyrin derivative (HPD) is the drug that has been used almost exclusively in clinical urological trials. Both direct and indirect methods have been used to document the preferential concentration or retention of HPD in malignant urothelium. Although this drug is not a perfect tumour localization aid, it is perhaps the best that has thus far been studied for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Over the past decade of investigation, PDT has become established to the point that it is now being tested in phase II and III trials against standard and approved drugs for the treatment of noninvasive transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.
A randomized, double-blind trial in patients with disseminated, previously untreated prostate cancer (stage D2) was designed to test the hypothesis that maximal androgen blockade improves the effectiveness of the treatment of prostatic cancer. Six hundred three men received leuprolide in combination with either placebo or flutamide, and were followed for a minimum of 5 years. The 303 patients randomly assigned to receive leuprolide and flutamide had a longer progression-free survival and an increase in the median length of survival compared with the 300 patients receiving leuprolide plus placebo. Differences between the treatments were particularly evident for men with minimal disease and good performance status.
After several unsuccessful attempts at surgical resection, a case of cystic mesothelioma (multilocular mesothelial cyst of the peritoneum) was treated by a combination of conservative surgical resection and sclerosive therapy with tetracycline. At 4-year followup evaluation no recurrence was noted. Surgical excision with adjunct sclerosive therapy appears to be an alternative to radical surgery and may decrease the incidence of recurrence in some cases of peritoneal multilocular cysts.
Sixty-seven patients with advanced Peyronie disease were treated by implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP). Twenty-eight of the 67 patients had documented total erectile failure. The remaining 39 patients had significant penile curvature causing "mechanical impotence" due to inability to achieve adequate vaginal penetration and chose implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis (in some cases, combined with a straightening procedure) rather than one of the standard penile straightening procedures. Currently, 63 of the 67 patients have functioning prosthetic devices; in 3 other patients the device was removed because of infection, and 1 patient was dissatisfied and had the device removed. For impotent patients with severe Peyronie disease for whom other medical or surgical treatment is neither desirable nor suitable, we recommend implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis combined with a possible straightening procedure.
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From January 1983 until June 1987, 51 patients with locally advanced prostatic carcinoma (47 Stage C, 4 bulky B2) were treated at Mayo Clinic (33 patients) and at William Beaumont Hospital (18 patients) with (a) 5 Gy delivered pre-operatively in one fraction, (b) pelvic lymphadenectomy and (c) interstitial implantation of the prostate with Ir 192 seeds via a perineal template (the Martinez Universal Perineal Interstitial Template) to deliver 35 Gy, and (d) 30.6 Gy external beam therapy in 17 fractions to prostate only fields. Initial clinical response has been excellent. Local control, with a median follow-up of 45 months, has been 100% by clinical exam and 84.5% pathologically in the subset biopsied. Disease-free actuarial survival at 5 years is 89%. Major toxicity has been limited to the rectum, but a modification of the brachytherapy technique has reduced this sharply. We conclude that bulky Stage C prostatic carcinoma can be successfully treated by this aggressive combination of modalities with acceptable toxicity.
The technique of transurethral ureteropyeloscopy was used in 43 patients with upper urinary tract urothelial tumors. Diagnosis was confirmed in 19 of 22 renal pelvic tumors (86 per cent) and 19 of 21 ureteral tumors (90 per cent). The major complication rate in this series is low (7 per cent) and did not appear to influence unfavorably subsequent management or outcome. A total of 21 patients underwent conservative endourological management of the upper tract tumor. The local recurrence rate was 20 per cent (1 of 8) for renal pelvic tumors and 15 per cent for distal ureteral tumors (2 of 13). The technique of ureteropyeloscopy should be added to the standard diagnostic regimen for the investigation of upper tract filling defects and conservative endourological techniques can be used safely for management of selected cases of upper tract urothelial tumor.
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Cyclophosphamide is an alkylating agent used intravenously or orally in the treatment of both malignant and nonneoplastic diseases. A known adverse effect of such treatment is hemorrhagic cystitis. A series of 100 patients with hemorrhagic cystitis induced by cyclophosphamide was studied. Major symptoms were gross hematuria (78%) and irritative voiding symptoms (45%). Microhematuria developed in 93% of patients. Hemorrhagic cystitis developed at significantly lower doses and shorter durations of therapy in patients treated intravenously than in patients treated orally. Cystectomy was required in nine patients and bladder cancer developed in five. Urine cytologic study, urinalysis, and cystoscopy are important in the diagnosis of hemorrhagic cystitis, and these studies plus periodic excretory urography are important for surveillance. In addition, new methods of protecting against the urotoxicity are available.
In a series of 111 patients with Wegener's granulomatosis who were given cyclophosphamide therapy, hemorrhagic cystitis, diagnosed on the basis of gross hematuria or at cystoscopy (or both), developed in 17 (15%). Most of these patients recovered uneventfully, with or without the discontinuation of cyclophosphamide, but 4 patients suffered a significant loss of blood, and bladder carcinoma developed in 3. New microhematuria also occurred in 52 patients (47%). The dose and duration of cyclophosphamide were greater in the group that had urotoxicity. Long-term followup of patients with hemorrhagic cystitis is mandatory for the detection of late recurrences or the development of bladder malignancy. New therapies are being directed at protecting the bladder from urotoxicity during cyclophosphamide treatment.
We evaluated 36 patients for müllerian duct remnants that were manifest in several forms. The most common type was an enlarged prostatic utricle communicating with the urethra in 22 younger patients, which was associated with hypospadias or intersex disorders in more than 90 per cent of the cases. A cystic müllerian duct remnant was the other configuration noted in 14 older patients who had normal external genitalia and often presented with a rectal mass. The diagnostic evaluation consists of voiding cystourethrography, retrograde urethrography and cystoscopy. Other useful imaging techniques are ultrasonography and computerized tomography. Careful delineation of the anatomy of the lower urinary and genital tracts will help to plan surgical therapy. Suprapubic excision was the most frequent operation and it was successful in all 18 patients in whom it was performed.
Bowenoid papulosis of the penis is a recently described entity that clinically resembles benign verruca-like papular lesions but, histologically, it is identical to carcinoma in situ, Bowen's disease or erythroplasia of Queyrat. Although a few cases of spontaneous regression of bowenoid papulosis in men have been reported, conservative therapy, consisting of topical 5-fluorouracil, electrodissection or excision, is recommended. With these treatment modalities recurrences are not uncommon. We report 2 cases of extensive bowenoid papulosis of the penis treated successfully without scarring with the neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser.
We report 11 cases of bilateral single ectopic ureter. The clinical features and surgical management are discussed. With current surgical techniques, these patients can be treated successfully.