Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology

OBJECTIVE: BK virus (BKV)-induced viraemia after renal transplantation can be associated with severe impairment of graft function. This study evaluated possible risk factors for BKV replication and examined the outcomes following various currently used treatment approaches. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-seven renal transplant recipients with BKV viraemia were retrospectively compared with 71 BKV-negative recipients to identify risk factors for BKV viraemia. Furthermore, outcome and graft function in 14 patients with BKV replication, in whom mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was discontinued with a dose reduction of the remaining immunosuppressants, were compared with 32 patients in whom both MMF and the additional immunosuppressants were reduced...

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have linked changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients to the calcium concentration in peritoneal dialysate. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In total, 236 incident patients who underwent an annual BMD determination for 2 years were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups: the standard calcium dialysate (SCD) group (n = 190; 1.75 mmol/l) and the low-calcium dialysate (LCD) group (n = 46; 1.25 mmol/l). RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the baseline demographics of the two groups, such as age, diabetes, calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), intact parathyroid hormone (i-PTH) levels or variables related to BMD...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) levels with clinical data of patients under haemodialysis (HD) and with several variables potentially related to endothelial function and dysfunction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a cross-sectional study involving 189 Portuguese HD patients, circulating levels of t-PA, lipids, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), adiponectin, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) and fibrin fragment D-dimer were measured...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and bother of postmicturition dribble in relation to age in the male population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Information for a population-based study was collected by means of a mailed self-administered questionnaire, which was returned by 4384 men out of 7470 (58.7%). The participants were men aged 30-80 years from the Pirkanmaa Region in Finland. The Danish Prostatic Symptom Score (DAN-PSS-1) questionnaire was used to evaluate their urinary symptoms...

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to check the possibility of observing readiness signs proposed in the literature (Study 1) and to investigate the interrater reliability of observing readiness signs between different researchers (Study 2). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In Study 1, 24 healthy children, recruited in Flemish childcare centres, were observed. Each child was observed for 8 h. In this study a list of readiness signs was used as described in a recent literature review on readiness signs in young, healthy children...

OBJECTIVE: Only a few studies with a long-term follow-up exist on patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS) treated with instillation therapy. The objective was to study the long-term outcome of patients with CIS after mitomycin C (MMC) monotherapy or alternating therapy with MMC and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study population comprised 68 patients with CIS belonging to a larger material of 256 patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma who were randomized between 1987 and 1992 in a prospective multicentre study...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to study the effect of postoperative physiotherapist-guided pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) parameters in patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted at St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Norway. Eighty-five men were randomized into two intervention groups (A and B). patients in group A (n = 42) were offered physiotherapist-guided PFMT (in groups or by DVD) once weekly throughout the first 12 months after RP, while those in group B (n = 43) trained on their own...

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to compare estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equations, to assess the classification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages by both equations, and to identify factors associated with differences between both equations in patients with or at high risk of CKD managed in primary care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was an observational study of 803 patients with CKD, long-standing, severe hypertension and diabetes exclusively managed in primary care...

OBJECTIVE: Many patients experience problems with sexual functioning after renal transplantation (RTx). Research on the sexual functioning of the partners of those patients and the consequences for relationship satisfaction and quality of life is lacking. This study sought to explore changes in sexual and relationship functioning from before to after RTx in patients and their partners. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-nine patients (mean ± SD age 53.4 ± 14.2 years) and 13 partners (age 57...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors associated with sleep quality in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Demographic data, clinical and biochemical parameters of 112 CAPD patients (convenience sample of 52 women and 60 men, mean age 51 ± 15 years) were measured. In the same patients, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used for assessing sleep quality, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for severity of depressive symptoms, the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group criteria for the diagnosis of restless legs syndrome (RLS), and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) of Medical Outcomes Study questionnaire for quality of life (QoL)...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to survey current Swedish practices for performing and handling transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A Swedish Urology Network (SUNe) was organized for the distribution of information, survey studies and research collaborations. A web-based questionnaire was distributed to the members in 2011. RESULTS: In this first SUNe survey, 137 (91%) of the 151 members replied. All used antibiotic prophylaxis (84% ciprofloxacin, 12% trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), most commonly (63%) as a single dose of ciprofloxacin...

A 53-year-old man presented with a 6-month history of intermittent right flank pain. Radiological imaging confirmed the diagnosis of retrocaval ureter (RCU) and ureteral calculus. Retroperitoneal laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) ureterolithotomy and ureteroureterostomy was successfully performed. The operative time was 185 min and the blood loss was approximately 20 ml. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperative analgesia was not needed. The patient was discharged on the third postoperative day...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess initial symptoms and factors associated with patients' and doctors' delay in penile carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients with penile carcinoma treated with an organ-sparing technique and nine with partial amputation were enrolled in a prospective study at the Department of Urology, Örebro University Hospital, between 2005 and 2009. Face-to-face structured interviews in combination with self-assessment forms were used for the patients' descriptions of clinical symptoms, treatment seeking and reasons for delay...

OBJECTIVE: Kidney biopsy is an important diagnostic tool in assessing glomerular damage. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of glomerular disease during the past decade at a single centre, to assess potential changes in the structure of primary glomerulopathies over time, and to define gender- and age-related differences. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 578 consecutive native kidney biopsies during the period 2000-2010 was retrospectively reviewed at Tartu University Hospital, Estonia...

OBJECTIVE: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is highly prevalent in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and a risk marker for cardiovascular mortality. It was hypothesized that vitamin D deficiency could play an important role in the pathogenesis of left ventricular hypertrophy and dysfunction in CKD. An open-labelled randomized study was performed comparing the effect of alfacalcidol versus no treatment in patients with CKD 4, secondary hyperparathyroidism and LVH. The primary endpoint was regression of LVH...

OBJECTIVE: Recent guidelines on serum testing of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in asymptomatic men emphasize the importance of an informed decision. This study assessed the proportion of men who had received written or oral information on the possible consequences of testing of serum levels of PSA before blood draw. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) in Sweden, 600 men per year were randomly selected out of all men with T1c prostate cancer who were diagnosed in the work-up of a PSA test as a part of health examination in 2006-2008...

OBJECTIVE: Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) is one of the most bothersome conditions in urological practice. This syndrome includes a heterogeneous collection of underlying pathological conditions. Compared to the classic IC with a Hunner lesion, now denominated European Society for the Study of Interstitial Cystitis (ESSIC) type 3C, the non-Hunner type of BPS/IC appears different concerning demographic, endoscopic and histological findings, as well as the response to all forms of treatment...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this investigation was to determine whether postoperative urine colour could be used as a predictor for the presence or absence of a urinary leakage at the vesicourethral anastomosis after open radical prostatectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this prospective study, the urine colour of 223 patients who underwent open radical prostatectomy due to histologically proven localized prostate cancer was assessed macroscopically and microscopically on postoperative day (POD) 6, 7 and 8...

Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic, inflammatory condition which commonly involves the anogenital skin. This condition may affect the foreskin, glans, frenulum, meatus and urethra in males. It manifests itself with voiding symptoms. Obstructive uropathy is an extremely rare clinical presentation in childhood. This study reports the case of a 13-year-old boy presenting with obstructive uropathy due to LS and reviews the published data on the diagnosis, management and follow-up of this condition.

OBJECTIVE: Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) are applied as a standard therapy in children with anaemia in chronic kidney disease. The aim of this study was to describe the efficacy and details of ESA treatment in a population of dialysed children in Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study had a prospective observational design and was performed in 12 dialysis centres. The study group comprised 117 dialysed children with a mean age at enrolment of 165.33 (97...