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Radiologic imaging has always played a critical role in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of urologic disease. Advances in three-dimensional imaging using multidetector computerized tomography (MDCT) have made this imaging modality an invaluable diagnostic tool in many aspects of urologic practice.

Men may be twice as likely to have hypogonadism if they are obese, diabetic, or hypertensive, according to findings presented at the American Academy of Family Physicians annual scientific assembly in Orlando.

Robert Waldbaum, MD, has been named chairman of urology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY. Dr. Waldbaum, who served as director of the hospital's division of urology for 30 years, will be the first chairman of urology at the hospital.

The FDA has approved the anticholinergic agent solifenacin succinate (Vesicare) for the treatment of overactive bladder with symptoms of urgency, frequency, and urge incontinence.

Alan Partin, MD, PhD, is the new director of the Johns Hopkins department of urology and the Brady Urological Institute, as well as the new urologist in chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.

Combination therapy with extended-release tolterodine tartrate (Detrol LA) and doxazosin mesylate (Cardura) is twice as effective as doxazosin alone in relieving overactive bladder symptoms in men with both bladder obstruction and overactive bladder symptoms, according to a recent study in the British Journal of Urology (2004; 94:817-20).

Balancing the roles of physician and business owner is "extremely challenging" to one-fourth of urologists in private practice, according to an American Express survey.

The American Board of Urology is among 24 members of the American Board of Medical Specialties that will participate in a Maintenance of Certification program to ensure all board-certified physicians meet the highest standards of patient care and accountability.

The FDA has issued a consumer alert for and has stopped the importation of the dietary supplements Actra-Rx and Yilishen, because they contain prescription-strength quantities of sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra.

Reimbursement for urologic evaluation and management services increased by one-half since 1995, while surgical reimbursement rates have decreased by about one-third, according to a study in the November Journal of Urology (2004; 172:1958-62).

Infertile mice produced sperm and fathered offspring after transplantation of sperm progenitor cells grown in laboratory culture, according to research published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it has made "significant" changes in Medicare's approach to paying for drugs administered in the physician's office that will allow increased coverage in 2005 for both the drugs and their administration.

You collect your money at the time of service, and you have no accounts receivable for Medicare patients.

San Diego-Treatment with the dual neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitor duloxetine (Yentreve) results in durable improvement in symptoms of stress urinary incontinence, according to a study of open-label transition from placebo to active therapy.

San Diego-Two anticholinergic drugs commonly used in the treatment of overactive bladder have similarly low incidences of adverse events affecting the central nervous system, according to an analysis of data from a large randomized trial of the agents.

Whistler, British Columbia, Canada-Intravesical hyaluronic acid (Cystistat) appears to be a simple, quick therapy for reducing pain, frequency, and nocturia in patients with interstitial cystitis, according to Austrian and Canadian researchers. The agent may also improve radiation-induced cystitis and reduce bacterial cystitis recurrences in patients with recurrent urinary tract infections, said Marc Riviere, MD, senior vice president at Belleville, Ontario-based Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., who presented a series of pilot studies at the Canadian Urological Association annual meeting.

Whistler, British Columbia, Canada-In separate studies, Canadian researchers have found that two newer phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors improve erectile function in diabetic men, a population in which erectile dysfunction can be difficult to treat.

Patients can complete the HRQOL questionnaire within 5 minutes while waiting to meet with their physician.

Ann Arbor, MI-Urologists should use biopsy, not barbotage cytology, to assess tumors and select treatment for upper-tract urothelial carcinomas, advise researchers at the University of Michigan Urology Center in Ann Arbor.

New York-Approximately 50% of men who undergo bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy may be expected to achieve normal erectile function, but that recovery may take up to 4 years, according to a study conducted by urologists at Me-morial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.

San Francisco-Urologists need to become more frugal in monitoring patients after urologic cancer treatment, advises Steven C. Campbell, MD, PhD, associate professor and co-director of urologic oncology at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL.

Baltimore-Relatively high levels of free testosterone in older men appear linked to a significantly increased risk for prostate cancer-a finding that raises the possibility that testosterone replacement might affect the risk of prostate cancer, reported J. Kellogg Parsons, MD, an instructor in the department of urology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Ann Arbor, MI-The use of PSA testing by urologists and primary care physicians is much lower than that suggested by practitioner- and patient-based published self-report estimates, according to a study of national clinic-report data conducted by urologists at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

FDA approves new 12-month LHRH implant for prostate Ca

San Diego-Treatment with the dual neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitor duloxetine (Yentreve) results in durable improvement in symptoms of stress urinary incontinence, according to a study of open-label transition from placebo to active therapy.

San Diego--Two large studies have arrived at very different conclusions about the value of routine urine cytology and cystoscopy for evaluating women presenting with irritative voiding symptoms.

Bladder ultrasound is noninvasive and relatively easy to perform, which may explain its increased usage in recent years. However, the American Board of Urology has expressed concern that urologists may be overusing the test. In this exclusive Urology Times interview, Pat Fulgham, MD, president of Urology Clinics of North Texas, Dallas, discusses data on the dramatic shift in bladder ultrasound usage by some urologists. Dr. Fulgham, who teaches an annual AUA course on ultrasound, also discusses clinical and reimbursement guidelines clinicians should follow. The interview was conducted by UT Editorial Consultant Robert C. Flanigan, MD, professor and chairman of the department of urology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL.

New York--Men with prostate cancer are being urged to seek the advice of a medical oncologist in a new educational campaign launched by the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine has elected urologist John D. McConnell, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, as one of 65 new members.

African-American men have significantly higher sexual and urinary function 5 years after prostatectomy than Caucasian men, according to study results published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2004; 22:1-9).