Objective  To investigate the effect of intralesional interferon on patients with severe Peyronie's disease. Patients and methods  Thirteen patients with Peyronie's disease and associated penile deformity of greater than 12 months' duration were selected. Characteristics of the plaque and the degree of deformity were measured objectively. Ten patients received 1.5 MU of α2B‐interferon intralesionally three times a week for 3 weeks. Three patients received similar volumes of intralesional saline. Results  Six of the 10 patients who received interferon reported the complete disappearance of pain on erection and an improvement in the penile deformity. Although the objective improvement in deformity was relatively small, with a mean improvement of 20°, patients with a small plaque (<4 cm) had a better response. All those receiving inferferon had predictable but brief side‐effects similar to the symptoms of influenza. Conclusion  Intralesional interferon is safe and well tolerated and results in symptomatic and some objective improvement, especially in patients with smaller Peyronie's plaques.

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The results of technetium renography were compared with arteriography to determine whether this is a satisfactory screening test for renal artery stenosis (RAS). Sixty‐three patients were studied before aortic surgery. All were investigated by aortography and isotope renography. These tests were assessed blind and all arteriograms were graded by a single independent radiologist. Renal artery stenosis was detected by arteriography in 34 (54%) patients. Twenty‐three (37%) had mild (< 50%) stenosis, seven (11%) had moderate (50–80%) stenosis and four (6%) had severe (> 80%) stenosis. Of these 34 patients, only 6 (18%) were correctly diagnosed by isotope renography. None of the four with severe stenosis were identified. Isotope renography resulted in six true positives, six false positives, 23 true negatives and 28 false negatives. It was concluded that isotope renography did not fulfil the criteria for a screening test for the detection of RAS and appeared to be of no value in those patients undergoing aortic surgery in whom arteriography was not indicated.

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