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Letters, appeals, and legal action can each help settle denial of compensationclaims

Seattle-Microsurgical vasectomy reversal has higher success rates whenperformed for couples with the same female partner, underscoring the importanceof counseling patients when considering reconstructive surgery.

Societies can help with Medicare matters and with private insurance companies

>Los Angeles-It's a simple axiom but one that appears to be appropriatewhen discussing radical prostatectomy: "Practice makes perfect."

One does not have to go far on the Internet to find solicitations encouragingcouples whose infertility derives from a wide variety of causes to undergointracytoplasmic sperm injection with aspirated testicular sperm. Many ofthese advertisements hint that ICSI with aspirated sperm is an easy, "one-stop"method of conceiving a child, leading urologists to be rightly concernedthat, without adequate evaluation of the male half of the equation, thepatient's medical interests are inadequately served.

In this exclusive Urology Times interview, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson addresses the medical liability insurance crisis and outlines several possible solutions. Thompson also discusses the future of managed care, his plans for restructuring Medicare, and his goals for HHS during his tenure. The interview was conducted by Michael T. McCue, editor-in-chief of Managed Healthcare Executive, a UT sister publication.

Navy Pier (312-595-7437) offers shopping, dining, and other recreational activities. Constructed toward the beginning of the 20th century as a commercial shipping pier, Navy Pier was converted less than 10 years ago to a prime entertainment destination featuring a variety of stores, arcades, and restaurants along its 4-block length.

The downtown area of Chicago is home to a number of Broadway-style theaters. The biggest show in town during the AUA meeting is Disney Presents the Lion King, which will be playing at the Cadillac Palace Theater. Further north, the Lincoln Park area is home to a number of off-Loop theaters. Raucous comedy revues are presented on two separate stages every night but Monday at The Second City (877-778 4707), located in Chicago's Old Town.

Tours of varying durations highlight the best of what the city has to offer by boat, bus, bike, or on foot.

Visitors hoping to take home something special for themselves or for those at home need look no farther than "The Magnificent Mile," the 1-mile stretch of North Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River on the south to Oak Street on the north.

Chicago is home to a number of world-renowned museums, and three of its best lie just south of downtown and within walking distance of each other in the Grant Park Museum Campus.

Visitors to Chicago will have little trouble finding a good place toeat. In fact, AUA meeting attendees may face a problem choosing from somany excellent options. Home to thousands of restaurants, Chicago boastsmany award-winning dining spots offering the talents of world-renowned chefsand a range of cuisines to fit every ethnic taste.

Chicago, site of AUA's 2003 annual meeting, offers attendees and theirguests an almost endless assortment of cultural, entertainment, shopping,dining, and recreational activities to occupy their free time. Visitorsbenefit from the large range of choices found only in a big city but willfeel welcome wherever they go, thanks to Chicago's brand of Midwestern friendliness.

Toronto-Both tension-free vaginal tape and the laparoscopic Burch procedurehave their benefits and drawbacks when used as a first-line treatment forfemale stress incontinence. Experts from the University of Toronto debatedthe merits of these two approaches at the Women's Pelvic Health Update,a meeting of the Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Center inToronto.

New codes established for catheterization and bladder ultrasound forresidual urine

Copenhagen, Denmark-An oral antidiuretic approved for the treatment ofnocturnal enuresis also appears to be effective for treating nocturia inadult men and women, according to phase III clinical trial results reportedby the multinational Nocturia Study Group.

Albuquerque, NM-A recent study by University of New Mexico psychiatristsconfirms what many urologists have observed clinically-that treatment witha PDE-5 inhibitor is effective in men with erectile dysfunction attributableto certain antidepressant medications. The research suggests that effectivetreatment of ED in men with "antidepressant-associated sexual dysfunction"-aparticularly common side effect of serotonin reuptake inhibitors-may improvetheir compliance with these agents.

Boston-Bladder pressure at the onset of reflux may better predictthe spontaneous resolution of vesicoureteral reflux than the grade of reflux,according to researchers at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Boston-An injectable tissue-augmenting material is a promising alternativefor the endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux in children, accordingto researchers from Dublin, Ireland. At follow-up of up to 1 year, refluxwas corrected in 86% of ureters after a single injection of the material,dextranomer/hyaluronic acid copolymer (Deflux, Q-Med, Uppsala, Sweden),according to lead author Prem Puri, MD, pediatric surgeon and director ofresearch at the National Children Hospital in Dublin.

Baltimore-A joint AUA-American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons expert panel has issued guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis in patients with total joint replacements who may face subsequent invasive urologic procedures.

Washington-The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has dropped its appeal of a recent U.S. District Court ruling that lithotripsy should not be encompassed within the Stark II ban on physician self-referrals. With the withdrawal, the court's decision on the matter is final, according to the attorney representing the American Lithotripsy Society (ALS) and Urology Society of America (USA).

No area of medicine has been the subject of more hype, misinformation, and confusion than developing web sites for physician practices. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of our urologic colleagues have created web sites only to be left with a bad taste about the time, money, and effort spent on a medium that does not appear to generate more patients or improve practice efficiency.

The predictable recurrence of superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is responsible for the frequent utilization of intravesical therapy. In the past 2 years, we have changed our intravesical treatment strategy at Ohio State University in an effort to enhance efficacy and reduce patient inconvenience.

Boston-Pregnant mice exposed to synthetic estrogens resulted in shorter urethras and disrupted urethral seam closures in their offspring, according to researchers from the University of California, San Francisco. They say their research supports previous cause-and-effect data regarding endocrine disruptors and genital tubercle anomalies.

Las Vegas--Most older women who want to restore continence withoutresorting to surgery are satisfied with the results of collagen injections,according to Loma Linda Medical Center researchers.

Las Vegas--A single application of cooled transurethral microwavetherapy led to clinically and statistically significant symptom improvementin a pilot study involving patients with intractable chronic prostatitis,accompanied by BPH in some cases.

Failure to account for payroll taxes will result in various penaltiesOne of the proposals the Republican-led 108th Congress is studying tostimulate the economy is a month-long "holiday" on payroll taxes.This holiday-or even another proposal for a payroll tax moratorium for 1year on an employee's first $10,000 of income-may or may not help increaseproductivity or improve the moribund U.S. economy. The proposals have, however,focused attention on the complex payroll withholding system that many urologistsmust deal with.

Use this framework to facilitate complex decisions for treatment anddisease managementMedicine is both an art and a science. One hundred years ago, physiciansplaced more emphasis on the art than on the science, as documented studiessupporting the scientific basis for therapeutic decisions were few and farbetween. Since the 1990s, a plethora of information has become availableon studies, research, and scientific investigation on the treatment of disease,outcomes, and management of entire patient populations.

Somerville, NJ-Ethicon Products, a division of Ethicon, Inc., has received FDA approval to market the Vicryl Plus Antibacterial Suture, which uses an antibacterial agent designed to reduce bacterial colonization on the suture. The antibacterial agent, triclosan (Irgacare MP), is known to be effective against Staphylococcus aureus, S epidermidis, and methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus.