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July 2007 Issue of Renal And Urology News

Editor's Letter

Why the OR Just Doesn't Pay

Clinicians in virtually every medical and surgical specialty would have little trouble citing services for which they considered third-party reimbursement woefully inadequate for the time ...

World Literature Review

Folate Supplementation May Benefit Hemodialysis Patients

Early folate supplementation by lowering plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) may prevent cardiovascular deterioration in patients with chronic renal failure, according to researchers in Brazil.

Malnourished Children Found to Have Smaller Kidneys

Malnourished children have smaller kidneys, and body height is the main determinant of their kidney length and volume, Turkish investigators conclude.

Vaginal Tape Works With or Without Sphincter Deficiency

Tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) is similarly effective for treating stress urinary incontinence in women with and without intrinsic sphincter deficiency, a South Korean study found.

Bladder Cancer Risk Higher in TURP-Treated BPH Patients

A study of Swedish men with BPH found no excess risk of bladder cancer, but did show that the likelihood of the malignancy is elevated ...

FDA News

New Treatment for Renal Cancer Extends Survival

Torisel (temsirolimus), an enzyme inhibitor, has received approval for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following a study of 626 patients.

Another Renal Cancer Drug Reaches Phase II

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Rockville, Md., has announced that it has received approval to begin a phase II study for its lead oncology compound, Archexin ...

Safety Alert Issued for Type 2 Diabetes Drug

The FDA has issued an alert related to the safety of Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate), a widely used treatment for type 2 diabetes.

Device Cleared for Week-Long Glucose Monitoring

The STS-7 Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, a device that measures glucose levels every five minutes for up to seven days in people with diabetes, has ...

Legal Issues

A Urologist Misses a Case of Impending Renal Failure

Dr. F, age 64, was ready for retirement after a lifetime in urology, and couldn’t wait to get his fly-fishing rod out of the closet. ...

Malpractice News

Few Patients Get Money From Malpractice Suits

The words “medical malpractice” may conjure up nightmares of megabuck settlements, but most patients don’t get a dime, according to the federal Bureau of Justice ...

Company Compiles Malpractice Database

Patients are now able to check out their physicians’ malpractice histories online.

High Premiums Don&t Drive Doctors Away

Constantly rising malpractice premiums are having little impact on the way doctors practice, at least in Pennsylvania, researchers have found.

Renal Nutrition Update

Vegetarian Diets May Not Be Better

HIGH-PROTEIN diets have been shown to accelerate renal deterioration in a number of studies of populations with even mildly reduced kidney function.

Your Money

A Tax Shelter That Can Pay for College

IF YOU’RE worried about the cost of your children’s higher education, Uncle Sam has a nifty solution: 529 plans. The accounts are sound vehicles for ...

Why Fund Managers Matter Less and Less

WHEN FIDELITY’S giant Magellan Fund changed managers a year ago, many shareholders applauded. Under the old manager, the fund produced mediocre results. So how is ...

General News

Active Surveillance A Viable Option for PCa

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Active surveillance with delayed intervention is a viable option for well-selected prostate cancer patients with favorable risk, according to researchers at the University of ...

Angioplasty Shown to Preserve Limbs

SEATTLE—Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) safely treats infragenicular arterial disease and helps to preserve limbs, according to a study presented here at the Society of Interventional ...

Beta Blocker Controls BP Long Term

CHICAGO—A novel beta blocker under FDA review controls BP long term without the adverse effects associated with first-generation beta blockers, according to data presented here ...

Body Fat Affects SWL

BERLIN—High BMI, body fat mass, and body fat percentage reduce shock wave lithotripsy efficacy.

BP-Lowering Diet Is Widely Ignored

CHICAGO—Hypertensive patients seem to be ignoring a government-backed diet with proven BP-lowering efficacy, researchers said here at the 22nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American ...

Beware Falsely Elevated INRs

ELEVATED INTERNATIONAL normalized ratios (INRs)—which are linked to bleeding complications—are rare, but they may be falsely elevated if patients are undergoing hemodialysis.

Biologic Can Lessen Steroid Exposure

SAN FRANCISCO—Steroid withdrawal under two-dose daclizumab induction on day two following renal transplantation provides excellent one-year patient and graft survival, researchers reported here at the ...

Combo May Offer Better Graft Outcome

SAN FRANCISCO—Pairing mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) with sirolimus instead of a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) may provide superior renal benefits to kidney transplant patients, according to interim ...

Drug May Reduce Proteinuria

SAN FRANCISCO—A new study found that converting from tacrolimus/sirolimus (TAC/SRL) to TAC/enteric-coated mycophenolic sodium (EC-MPS) may reduce proteinuria in renal transplant patients.

Hypertensive Patients Aware of Risks

CHICAGO—Hypertensive patients basically understand the link between high BP and cardiovascular risk, but wide misconceptions persist, according to data released at the 22nd Annual Scientific ...

NSAIDs May Accelerate Renal Decline

HIGH CUMULATIVE exposure to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with an increased risk for rapid CKD progression in the elderly, new data suggest.

Post-Cryo Salvage Difficult

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Salvage surgery may be quite problematic for patients who experience recurrence of renal cell carcinoma following primary thermal ablation, researchers reported.

Paricalcitol Works Safely

Paricalcitol decreases intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels in children receiving hemodialysis while not causing significant changes in serum calcium, phosphorus, or Ca x P product ...

Positive Crossmatch Need Not Stop Tx

SAN FRANCISCO—Many renal transplant candidates who have a positive AHG-CDC crossmatch can undergo successful transplantation, a new study suggests. The study showed that only 41% ...

PTA Rupture Rate is Higher with Fistulae

SEATTLE—Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA)-induced rupture rates are higher in fistulae than grafts, researchers reported here at the Society of Interventional Radiology annual meeting.

Screening-Detected PCa May Be Less Risky

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Prostate cancers found as a result of PSA screening are less likely to exhibit extracapsular extension and positive surgical margins after radical prostatectomy than ...

Statins Found to Decrease PSA Levels

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Statins can significantly reduce PSA levels in healthy men, and the magnitude of this decline is proportional to the extent to which the drugs ...

Stem Cells Work For Incontinence

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) injected with muscle-derived stem cells to strengthen their sphincter muscles experience long-term improvement, according to a small study.

Study: Engineered Bladder Tissue Effective

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Tissue-engineered autologous bladder tissue shows promise in patients requiring cystoplasty, researchers reported here at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

Uric Acid May Predict Graft Survival

SAN FRANCISCO—Increased uric acid levels early after kidney transplantation are associated with worse graft survival, data show.

Watchful Waiting Risks Quantified

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Fifteen percent of older men managed with watchful waiting for low-risk prostate tumors detected by PSA screening will die from the malignancy in 10 ...

Cover Articles

Botox Better Than Expected

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Just one injection of botulinum toxin type A (Botox) into the prostate may provide relief from BPH-related lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) for up ...

Obesity Keeps More Blacks From Donating

SAN FRANCISCO—Obesity is one of the reasons African Americans are less likely to become live kidney donors than whites, researchers reported here at the 2007 ...

Telmisartan Offers Better Renoprotection

CHICAGO—Telmisartan (Micardis HCT), a novel angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), and the older ARB losartan have similar BP-lowering efficacy in hypertensive patients with diabetic nephropathy, but ...

Feature

OAB in Men: A Diagnostic Challenge

Overactive bladder (OAB) is usually associated with women, but it afflicts nearly one out of every eight American men. Its symptoms can also be confused ...