Author: admin

  • Weight, Weight Loss and the Risk of Prostate Cancer

    Body Mass Index, Weight Change, and Risk of Prostate Cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort Written by Ricardo Sanchez-Ortiz, MD Thursday, 15 February 2007 BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) – In the last five years, a large body of evidence has been accumulated supporting the association between obesity and high-risk prostate cancer. Despite this…

  • Article comparing surgery v. radiation v. watchful waiting

    Key Highlights: 3,159 men studied 15 years long-term follow-up data Primary data end point – Death, not PSA Recurrence Weighted & Adjusted Outcomes in all Cohorts Patients Treated with Radical Prostatectomy or Radiotherapy shown to live longer than patients in the Watchful Waiting Category Overall Survival Rate is in favor of Radical Prostatectomy vs. Radiotherapy…

  • Are da Vinci Pyeloplasties "Experimental"

    I recently had an encounter with United Healthcare that initially resulted in a denial of a request to treat one of their patients with UPJ stenosis (partial obstruction of the drainage leading from the kidney to the bladder) with a robotic repair of the condition. The denial was initially based on the perception that such…

  • Profitability

    I agree that the reimbursement for a radical prostatectomy should be more than it is, but that is true for nearly everything we do these days at the hospital. You are paid a little more for the code for a laparoscopic prostatectomy (the code for a dVP) than for an open radical and with experience…

  • ergo

    From the World Congress of Endourology Source UroToday Saturday, 19 August 2006 O Elhage1, AP Shortland , BJ Challacombe , D Murphy , A Sahai , P Dasgupta 2 1 1 1 11Department of Urology, Guy’s Hospital and GKT School of Medicine, London, UK, One SmallStep Gait Laboratory, Thomas Guy House, Guy’s Hospital, London, UK.2…

  • Prostate Size a Limitation for Surgery?

    I recently saw a patient who had been biopsied by another urologist, found to have cancer and sent to a second urologist for evaluation for surgery. That second urologist does not do robotic prostatectomies and did not mention the option. He was also put off by the size of the prostate as estimated by ultrasound…

  • “Mini-Incision” Radical Prostatectomy?

    In the February 2005 issue of UROLOGY, Dr. Miki et al from Kyoto, Japan descibes their initial experience using a running suture anastamosis during minilaparotomy radical retropubic prostatectomy for prostate cancer. They performed this anastamosis in 21 patients, utilizing a 6-cm midline incision. They used the Ethicon Endostitch device and a double-arm absorbable suture, starting…

  • daVinci Safe in the Obese

    Surgical robot makes prostate removal safe for obese men Source: News-Medical.Net “The use of a robotic system could make surgery for prostate cancer an option for thousands of obese men who might otherwise be turned down, report researchers from the University of Chicago in the April 2006 issue of the journal Urology.” I, and I…

  • ED and the Veil of Aphrodite

    Dr. Menon gave a presentation at the Pacific Rim Robotics Conference on nerve preservation and the anatomical concept that he has named the veil of Aphrodite. After first reviewing the history of impotence after radical prostatectomy he described the latest modification of his techniques, which he claims further improves the preservation of potency. Originally, of…