Urology for People

309Urology Journal    Vol 6    No 4    Autumn 2009

What’s Up in Urology Journal, Autumn 2009?

Urology for People is a section in the Urology Journal for providing people 
with a summary of what is published in this journal and describing 
urological entities in a simple language. The Persian translation of this 
article is available from www.uj.unrc.ir. 

Important Note. The findings in medical papers are usually not directly 
applicable in clinical practice and patients should consult their physicians 
before any utilization of the results of medical studies.

Urol J. 2009;6:309. 
www.uj.unrc.ir

BLADDER MUSCLE CELLS CULTURE 
Modern medicine has stepped into the area of 
re-building the impaired organs of the body. For 
instance, scientists try to build a new bladder for 
patients who have lost their bladder or part of it 
because of diseases, surgeries, injuries, etc.  Culture 
of the cells is one way to achieve a complete intact 
tissue. Dr Sharifiaghdas and her Iranian colleagues 
are experts in this area, and in their recent article, 
they described the growth of muscle cells of the 
bladder of mice on a natural matrix. Culture of 
cells needs a matrix on which new cells can be fed 
and grow. There are artificial matrixes and also 
natural ones. Dr Sharifiaghdas tried the amnion, the 
membrane around the fetus in mother’s womb, as 
a matrix. She reported successful growth of cells on 
the amnion which was more promising than their 
growth on other matrixes. These basic research 
projects are hoped to be the basis of the near future 
of a change in the paradigm of medical treatment.

See page 283 for full-text article 

LAPAROSCOPY FOR LARgE TUMORS
Laparoscopy has been popularized in the world 
and made more tolerable the nightmare of pain, 
staying in bed, infections, and large scars after 
surgeries. Instead of the surgeons’ hands, delicate 
instruments are inserted into the body’s cavities 
for the operation. Therefore, there is no need to 
make large incisions on the body. But, for large 
tumors, handling this method of surgery is very 
difficult that many surgeons prefer to do their 
own conventional operations. Some experienced 
pioneer surgeons, however, take the risk of 

approaching larger and larger tumors and expand 
their limitations in laparoscopy. Dr Sharma and 
his colleagues in India did so for tumors of the 
adrenal gland, a gland on the top of the kidneys, 
which were larger than 5 cm in diameter (7 cm 
on average). They reported that with enough care 
and experience, these tumors can be removed by 
laparoscopy, as well.

See page 254 for full-text article 

DO ALL MEN BENEFIT FROM VIAgRA 
AND ITS FRIENDS?
Viagra is now a well-known drug that effectively 
solves the erectile problem of men. However, 
there are some men whose problem cannot be 
resolved even with the maximum allowed doses 
of Viagra and a newer drug of this family, called 
vardenafil. Physicians have to discuss other 
treatments in this step, such as using injections, 
prosthesis, or vacuum devices. The most recently 
released drug of this kind, tadalafil (known as 
Cialis), is more effective than its older generation. 
So, the physician may offer Cialis to men whose 
treatment has failed. A group of researchers from 
Turkey tested this hypothesis that Cialis can help 
men to gain proper erection for intercourse, if 
other similar drugs have failed. They prescribed 
Cialis for men who did not benefit from sildenafil 
(Viagra) and vardenafil. However, this new drugs 
was not effective either. So the research team 
recommended that changing the drug may not 
be helpful and the physician may have to discuss 
other options with the patient.

See page 267 for full-text article