Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) efficacy in the treatment of lower urinary tract dysfunctions. A systematic review

Background: Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation (PTNS) has been proposed for the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome (OAB), non-obstructive urinary retention (NOUR), neurogenic bladder, paediatric voiding dysfunction and chronic pelvic pain/painful bladder syndrome (CPP/PBS). Despite a number of publications produced in the last ten years, the role of PTNS in urinary tract dysfunctions remains unclear. A systematic review of the papers on PTNS has been performed with the aim to better clarify potentialities and limits of this technique in the treatment of OAB syndrome and in other above mentioned urological conditions. Methods. A literature search using MEDLINE and ISI web was performed. Search terms used were "tibial nerve" and each of the already mentioned conditions, with no time limits. An evaluation of level of evidence for each paper was performed. Results: PTNS was found to be effective in 37-100% of patients with OAB, in 41-100% of patients with NOUR and in up to 100% of patients with CPP/PBS, children with OAB/dysfunctional voiding and patients with neurogenic pathologies. No major complications have been reported.Randomized controlled trials are available only for OAB (4 studies) and CPP/PBS (2 studies). Level 1 evidence of PTNS efficacy for OAB is available. Promising results, to be confirmed by randomized controlled studies, have been obtained in the remaining indications considered. Conclusions: PTNS is an effective and safe option to treat OAB patients. Further studies are needed to assess the role of PTNS in the remaining indications and to evaluate the long term durability of the treatment. Further research is needed to address several unanswered questions about PTNS

Sex and age specificities of the dynamics of anthropometric indicators characterizing obesity (according to a prospective epidemiological research)

Background. Overweight and obesity significantly increase the risk of premature death and the development of chronic diseases. Many anthropometric indices have been developed to verify obesity, although the best among them still remains undetermined.The aim. To determine the sex and age specificities of the dynamics of anthropometric indicators characterizing obesity.Materials and methods. The program was implemented in the period from 2015 to 2020. It provided for the implementation of a sample research. The baseline research included 1,124 women and 476 men. The average age was 54.9 ± 9.75 years and 52.6 ± 10.0 years, respectively. To identify gender specificities, all participants were divided into three age groups: 35–49 years old, 50–59 years old, and 60–70 years old. The observation period was 3 years. To determine the level of visceral fat, the VS-532 fat mass analyzer (Tanita Health Equipment HK Ltd., Hong Kong) was used. Body mass index (BMI), waist-hip index (WV/HV), visceral obesity index (VOI) were also calculated. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the program Statistica 6.0 (StatSoft Inc., USA).Results. New cases of obesity developed in 30.6 % of the surveyed. There was an increase in the prevalence of obesity according to the criteria of WV (by 8.9 %) and VFL (by  5.4  %) and a  decrease in the number of people who are obese according to WV/HV – by 4.2 %. Of all the indicators, only VOI showed a statistically significant decrease in the mean values over the observed period, while BMI, WV and VFL showed an increase.Conclusions. It is necessary to apply various criteria for the diagnosis of obesity, since individual indices are not able to fully reflect the gender and age specificities of the distribution of fat in the bod

Transperineal prostate biopsies for diagnosis of prostate cancer are well tolerated: a prospective study using patient-reported outcome measures

We aimed to determine short-term patient-reported outcomes in men having general anesthetic transperineal (TP) prostate biopsies. A prospective cohort study was performed in men having a diagnostic TP biopsy. This was done using a validated and adapted questionnaire immediately post-biopsy and at follow-up of between 7 and 14 days across three tertiary referral hospitals with a response rate of 51.6%. Immediately after biopsy 43/201 (21.4%) of men felt light-headed, syncopal, or suffered syncope. Fifty-three percent of men felt discomfort after biopsy (with 95% scoring <5 in a 0-10 scale). Twelve out of 196 men (6.1%) felt pain immediately after the procedure. Despite a high incidence of symptoms (e.g., up to 75% had some hematuria, 47% suffered some pain), it was not a moderate or serious problem for most, apart from hemoejaculate which 31 men suffered. Eleven men needed catheterization (5.5%). There were no inpatient admissions due to complications (hematuria, sepsis). On repeat questioning at a later time point, only 25/199 (12.6%) of men said repeat biopsy would be a significant problem despite a significant and marked reduction in erectile function after the procedure. From this study, we conclude that TP biopsy is well tolerated with similar side effect profiles and attitudes of men to repeat biopsy to men having TRUS biopsies. These data allow informed counseling of men prior to TP biopsy and a benchmark for tolerability with local anesthetic TP biopsies being developed for clinical use.Boris Hadaschik received funding from the German Research Foundation and the European Foundation for Urology. Karan Wadhwa is sponsored by a Medical Research Council Research Training Fellowship. No other funding was received for this work

COVID-19 infection in adult patients with hematological malignancies: a European Hematology Association Survey (EPICOVIDEHA)

Background: Patients with hematological malignancies (HM) are at high risk of mortality from SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19). A better understanding of risk factors for adverse outcomes may improve clinical management in these patients. We therefore studied baseline characteristics of HM patients developing COVID-19 and analyzed predictors of mortality. Methods: The survey was supported by the Scientific Working Group Infection in Hematology of the European Hematology Association (EHA). Eligible for the analysis were adult patients with HM and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 observed between March and December 2020. Results: The study sample includes 3801 cases, represented by lymphoproliferative (mainly non-Hodgkin lymphoma n = 1084, myeloma n = 684 and chronic lymphoid leukemia n = 474) and myeloproliferative malignancies (mainly acute myeloid leukemia n = 497 and myelodysplastic syndromes n = 279). Severe/critical COVID-19 was observed in 63.8% of patients (n = 2425). Overall, 2778 (73.1%) of the patients were hospitalized, 689 (18.1%) of whom were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Overall, 1185 patients (31.2%) died. The primary cause of death was COVID-19 in 688 patients (58.1%), HM in 173 patients (14.6%), and a combination of both COVID-19 and progressing HM in 155 patients (13.1%). Highest mortality was observed in acute myeloid leukemia (199/497, 40%) and myelodysplastic syndromes (118/279, 42.3%). The mortality rate significantly decreased between the first COVID-19 wave (March–May 2020) and the second wave (October–December 2020) (581/1427, 40.7% vs. 439/1773, 24.8%, p value < 0.0001). In the multivariable analysis, age, active malignancy, chronic cardiac disease, liver disease, renal impairment, smoking history, and ICU stay correlated with mortality. Acute myeloid leukemia was a higher mortality risk than lymphoproliferative diseases. Conclusions: This survey confirms that COVID-19 patients with HM are at high risk of lethal complications. However, improved COVID-19 prevention has reduced mortality despite an increase in the number of reported cases.EPICOVIDEHA has received funds from Optics COMMITTM (COVID-19 Unmet Medical Needs and Associated Research Extension) COVID-19 RFP program by GILEAD Science, United States (Project 2020-8223)

Length of Wool Fiber of Sheep Progeny of Semicircular and Ribbed Flowers

The article presents the results of a comparative study of the length of wool fiber of the offspring of black Karakol sheep of the factory type "Mubarak" with the parameters of the offspring of ribbed type sheep

Length of Wool Fiber of Sheep Progeny of Semicircular and Ribbed Flowers

The article presents the results of a comparative study of the length of wool fiber of the offspring of black Karakol sheep of the factory type "Mubarak" with the parameters of the offspring of ribbed type sheep

Инженерно-геологические изыскания в междуречье р. Камы и нижнего течения р. Белой для строительства зданий и сооружений

The article considers the engineering-geological conditions of the territory of industrial and civil engineering development. Oil production, the cities expansion, and favorable natural conditions cause the intensive construction of buildings for various purposes, and industrial facilities. Information about the characteristics of soils, the level of groundwater occurrence, geological and physical processes that are important for choosing a foundation is needed for proper construction of objects. The geological structure of the area under consideration is characterized by a thick Paleozoic sedimentary cover overlain by Quaternary deposits such as sandy loam, loam, sand, and gravel-pebble rocks.Рассмотрены инженерно-геологические условия экономически развитой территории. Нефтедобыча, наличие городов и благоприятные природные условия обуславливают интенсивное строительство зданий различного назначения и промышленных сооружений. Для возведения объектов необходима информация об особенностях грунтов, уровне залегания подземных вод, геолого-физических процессах, что важно при выборе фундамента. Геологическое строение рассматриваемой территории характеризуется мощным осадочным чехлом палеозойского возраста, перекрытым четвертичными отложениями: супесями, суглинками, песками и гравийно-галечными породами

Nosocomial urinary tract infections: A review

Nosocomial urinary tract infections are a common complication in healthcare systems worldwide. A review of the literature was performed in June 2014 using the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) database, through either PubMed or Ovid as a search engine, to identify publications regarding nosocomial urinary tract infections (NUTIs) definition, epidemiology, etiology and treatment.According to current definitions, more than 30% of nosocomial infections are urinary tract infections (UTIs). A UTI is defined 'nosocomial' (NUTI) when it is acquired in any healthcare institution or, more generally, when it is related to patient management. The origin of nosocomial bacteria is endogenous (the patient's flora) in two thirds of the cases. Patients with indwelling urinary catheters, those undergoing urological surgery and manipulations, long-stay elderly male patients and patients with debilitating diseases are at high risk of developing NUTIs. All bacterial NUTIs should be treated, whether the patient is harboring a urinary catheter or not. The length of treatment depends on the infection site. There is abundance of important guidance which should be considered to reduce the risk of NUTIs (hand disinfection with instant hand sanitizer, wearing non-sterile gloves permanently, isolation of infected or colonized catheterized patients). Patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria can generally be treated initially with catheter removal or catheter exchange, and do not necessarily need antimicrobial therapy. Symptomatic patients should receive antibiotic therapy. Resistance of urinary pathogens to common antibiotics is currently a topic of concern