Abnormalities of penile shape and function

Penile abnormalities affect penile function and sexual therapists should be aware of how they may impact on sexual dysfunction. This review covers abnormalities of penile size and shape, penile injuries, the soft glans syndrome and priapism.     

Wax Mounting of Specimen in Anatomy Museum

Specimens in the Anatomy Museum are generally mounted on the plastic sheets by stitching them by using thread. As time passes the tissue becomes brittle, especially the brain specimen, which is very delicate and by putting sutures again and again leads to damage to the tissue. Paraffin wax, which is used in the Histology Laboratory for making the blocks, is tried for mounting the specimen instead of the plastic sheet. Itwas found that this method is quite cheap, easy to use and can be repeated without any problem in case anything goes wrong.     

Thoraco-abdominal Aorta Revascularization through a Retroperitoneal Approach

Objective To investigate the application of the retroperitoneal approach in aortic surgery. Methods We collected and analyzed data of 7 patients in Macau who presented with aortic diseases from 2007 to 2008 and were treated with aorta repair through retroperitoneal approach. Demographic features as well as intraoperative and postoperative data were analyzed. One case of thoracoabdominal aneurysm and 4 cases of abdominal aneurysm received artificial graft, among which hybrid iliac artery reconstruction with Zenith stent covering the ostium of the left subclavian artery was performed in 2 cases of infrarenal abdominal aneurysm. Aortic-iliac artery bypass was performed in 2 cases of aortoiliac occlusion. Results No operative or early postoperative death was observed. No perioperative intestinal adhesion or ureteral obstruction was found. One case reported delayed paraplegia and graft infection as postoperative complications. The complications were partially removed 3 months later after rehabilitation. Conclusion Retroperitoneal approach is a safe and feasible technique, which associated with a low incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications.     

Effect of direct mail as a population-based strategy to increase mammography use among low-income underinsured women ages 40 to 64 years.

Women with inadequate health insurance have lower mammography rates than the general population. Finding successful strategies to enroll eligible women is an ongoing challenge for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. To test the effectiveness of a population-based strategy to increase mammography utilization among low-income underinsured women ages 40 to 64 years, a randomized trial was conducted to assess the effect of two mailed interventions on mammography utilization through Sage, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program in Minnesota. Women (N = 145,467) ages 40 to 63 years [mean (SD), 49.7 (6.8)] with estimated household incomes below 50,000 US dollars (47.9% were < 35,000 US dollars) from a commercial database were randomized to three groups: Mail, Mail Plus Incentive, or Control. Both the Mail and the Mail Plus Incentive groups received two simple mailings prompting them to call a toll-free number to access free mammography services. The Mail Plus Incentive intervention offered a small monetary incentive for a completed mammogram. After 1 year, both intervention groups had significantly higher Sage mammography rates than the Controls, and the Mail Plus Incentive group had a significantly higher rate than the Mail group. The Mail and Mail Plus Incentive interventions were estimated to produce increases in Sage screening rates of 0.23% and 0.75%, respectively, beyond the composite Control rate of 0.83%. Direct mail is an effective strategy for increasing mammography use through Sage. Coupling direct mail with an incentive significantly enhances the intervention's effectiveness. Direct mail should be considered as a strategy to increase mammography use among low-income, medically underserved women.     

软组织黏液性病变的细针吸取细胞学分析

目的总结各软组织黏液性病变的细针吸取细胞学（FNAC）特点，确定鉴别良恶性病变和个别病变诊断的细胞学标准及其临床意义。方法总结1993—2006年澳门特别行政区镜湖医院24例软组织黏液性病变（良性病变14例，恶性病变10例）的针吸细胞学改变，结合临床资料经过及手术后结果进行综合分析。结果腱鞘囊肿（5例）、黏液瘤（5例）及黏液型结节性筋膜炎（3例）是最常见的良性软组织黏液性病变；共同的特点是涂片细胞较少，细胞无明显的不典型性。腱鞘囊肿的特点是吸出黏液后结节消失或明显缩小，涂片不见血管；黏液型结节性筋膜炎的特点是细胞多形性或有节细胞样细胞。黏液型脂肪肉瘤、骨外黏液型软骨肉瘤及黏液型纤维肉瘤是最常见的黏液型肉瘤，其共同的特点是涂片细胞丰富及细胞具有一定的不典型性。黏液型脂肪肉瘤的特点多有鸡爪样纤细的毛细血管或脂肪母细胞；黏液型纤维肉瘤的特点是细胞的多形性与异型性均非常明显。结论结合临床及辅助检查，FNAC是诊断软组织黏液性病变的有效方法。在软组织病变中，FNAC可为软组织黏液性病变制订治疗计划提供了客观的根据，亦有助于避免某些不必要的切除手术。     

Circumcision is not mandatory in penile surgery

Study Type – Therapy (case series)
Level of Evidence 4

OBJECTIVE

To assess the outcome of not circumcising patients having surgery to correct a congenital or acquired curvature, through a subcoronal approach.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In a series of 251 consecutive patients (mean age 46 years, range 17–74) that had their penis straightened by either a Lue (86), or a Nesbit procedure (162) or a combination of both (three) between 2000 and 2008, a subcoronal circumferential incision was used for the degloving in 241. Among the 183 patients who had not been previously circumcised, 22 presented with a tight foreskin and were offered a circumcision; six of them refused to be circumcised. Of the remaining 161 patients, 115, including two who had previous penile surgery, opted not to be circumcised.

RESULTS

After a median (range) follow‐up of 5.5 (1–50) months, secondary circumcision was performed in three of the six patients with a tight foreskin, in one of the 113 (0.8%) with a normal retractable foreskin and in one of the two who had had previous penile surgery and had a normal foreskin.

CONCLUSIONS

Circumcision should not be considered as a routine part of penile surgery unless a significant phimosis is present or revisional surgery is contemplated.     

The relationship between collisions and pseudoneglect: Is it right?

When walking through narrow doorways people collide more frequently on the right side than on the left. This rightward collision bias has been attributed to pseudoneglect. Originally pseudoneglect was defined as leftward errors on a line bisection task; however, the term is used more broadly now to refer to the slight tendency to neglect the right side of space and attend more towards the left. Thus, rightward collisions are said to occur because the right side is neglected. In the present experiments, we examined this pseudoneglect hypothesis by assessing the influence of three factors (age, cuing, and motor activity) known to affect performance on traditional measures of pseudoneglect, such as line bisection tasks. Navigation and line bisection tasks were completed by younger and older adults performing a concurrent motor task (Experiment 1) and by younger adults performing no concurrent motor task (Experiment 2). In both experiments, attention was cued to the left, right, or both sides of space, or was uncued. In contrast to previous reports, in both experiments we found a leftward collision bias on the navigation task; this bias was relatively unaffected by age or cuing manipulations, and was attenuated by concurrent motor activity. In addition, we found no relation between performance on the navigation and line-bisection tasks, indicating that the leftward bias on the navigation task cannot be attributed to pseudoneglect. We provide alternative hypotheses that may explain differences between our results and those observed in others' studies.