ObjectiveTo compare complications after implantation of an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) in patients with or without prior radiotherapy (RT). Patients and MethodsBetween January 2000 and December 2011, 160 patients underwent AMS 800 AUS implantation in our institution. We excluded neurological and traumatic causes, implantation on ileal conduit diversion, penoscrotal urethral cuff position and those lost to follow-up. In all, 122 patients were included in the study, 61 with prior RT and 61 without prior RT. All patients underwent the same surgical technique by two different surgeons. All AUS were implanted with a bulbar urethral cuff position. The mean (range) follow-up was 37.25 (1-126) months. ResultsIn the patients without prior RT and those with prior RT, revision rates were 32.8% vs 29.5%, respectively (P = 0.59).The median time to first revision was 11.7 months. Early complications were similar in the two groups (4.9% vs 6.5%, P = 1). Erosion rates were not significantly different (4.9% vs 13.1%, P = 0.13). However, infection and explantation were more prevalent in patients with prior RT [two (3.2%) vs 10 (16.3%), P = 0.018 and three (4.9%) vs 12 (19.6%), P = 0.016, respectively]. Finally, continence rates were not significantly different [75.4% (without prior RT) vs 63.9% (with prior RT), ConclusionAUS is the 'gold standard' treatment of male urinary incontinence after re-education failure in patients with or without prior RT. Our experience showed similar functional outcomes in both groups but a higher rate of major complications in the group with prior RT.

BACKGROUND: Members of the public will soon be taking commercial suborbital spaceflights with significant Gx (chest-to-back) acceleration potentially reaching up to 6 Gx. Pulmonary physiology is gravity-dependent and is likely to be affected, which may have clinical implications for medically susceptible individuals.METHODS: During 2-min centrifuge exposures ranging up to 6 Gx, 11 healthy subjects were studied using advanced respiratory techniques. These sustained exposures were intended to allow characterization of the underlying pulmonary response and did not replicate actual suborbital G profiles. Regional distribution of ventilation in the lungs was determined using electrical impedance tomography. Neural respiratory drive (from diaphragm electromyography) and work of breathing (from transdiaphragmatic pressures) were obtained via nasoesophageal catheters. Arterial blood gases were measured in a subset of subjects. Measurements were conducted while breathing air and breathing 15 oxygen to simulate anticipated cabin pressurization conditions.RESULTS: Acceleration caused hypoxemia that worsened with increasing magnitude and duration of Gx. Minimum arterial oxygen saturation at 6 Gx was 86 1 breathing air and 79 1 breathing 15 oxygen. With increasing Gx the alveolar-arterial (A-a) oxygen gradient widened progressively and the relative distribution of ventilation reversed from posterior to anterior lung regions with substantial gas-trapping anteriorly. Severe breathlessness accompanied large progressive increases in work of breathing and neural respiratory drive.DISCUSSION: Sustained high-G acceleration at magnitudes relevant to suborbital flight profoundly affects respiratory physiology. These effects may become clinically important in the most medically susceptible passengers, in whom the potential role of centrifuge-based preflight evaluation requires further investigation.Pollock RD, Jolley CJ, Abid N, Couper JH, Estrada-Petrocelli L, Hodkinson PD, Leonhardt S, Mago-Elliott S, Menden T, Rafferty G, Richmond G, Robbins PA, Ritchie GAD, Segal MJ, Stevenson AT, Tank HD, Smith TG. Pulmonary effects of sustained periods of high-G acceleration relevant to suborbital spaceflight. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(7):633641.

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Purpose: Symptomatic benign prostatic hypertrophy greater than 70 cc used to be treated by invasive procedures. Holmium laser enucleation of prostate (HoLEP) and laparoscopic transcapsular prostatectomy (LTP) are two techniques whose efficacy has been demonstrated compared to standard onesmore invasive standard procedures. The objective was to evaluate and compare perioperative results from these two techniques for the treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy greater than 70 cc. Methods: This was a non-randomized retrospective study comparing the HoLEP technique with LTP. From January 2012 to January 2015, 39 patients had HoLEP and 28 had LTP. Perioperative outcomes, complications, and functional results at 3 months were compared. A chi-2 squared test and Student's t test were used for statistical analysis. Results: In multivariate analysis, there was a statistically significant difference in favor of HoLEP for the duration of catheterization (1.9 vs. 3.7 days; p = 0.004) and the average length of stay (2.8 vs. 4.0 days, p = 0.010). There was a trend towards a greater decrease in postoperative hemoglobin levels in LTP (138 vs. 218 g/l; p = 0.082), which was statistically significant in univariate analysis (p = 0.033). Other endpoints were not significant, particularly the enucleated prostate volume compared to the total prostate volume (61.8 vs. 68.4%; p = 0.319) and postoperative complications. Conclusion: There was no increased morbidity for LTP compared to the HoLEP technique. However, the HoLEP technique appeared to be a less invasive technique, reducing the duration of catheterization, blood loss, and the average length of stay while maintaining good efficacy for the enucleated prostate volume.

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