Background: Ureteral stone disease may be an emergent condition if the appropriate management is not performed in a timely manner. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread globally, isolation and restriction orders taken by the governments have become the cores to control the pandemic. In this study, we, therefore, aimed to investigate the ureteral stone presentations in a high-volume university hospital during the COVID-19 restriction order period. Materials and Methods: The data of 149 patients who were hospitalized due to ureteral stone both during the COVID-19 pandemic restriction period and the corresponding period (non-COVID-19) of the previous year were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Unpaired Student's t-test was used to compare continuous variables. The categorical data were assessed using Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. Results: Of 149 patients, 35 were hospitalized in the COVID-19 restrictions period. While the mean age and the stone characteristics of the two groups did not differ significantly, serum creatinine levels (1.9-1.85 vs 1.15-0.64) and the white blood cell counts (12.45-6.54 vs 8.21-4.15) at hospital admission were significantly higher in the COVID-19 restrictions group (p = 0.034 and p = 0.005, respectively). According to the priority classification recommendations of the European Urology Guidelines Office Rapid Reaction Group for urolithiasis applicable during the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant difference was observed between the two periods (X 2 = 9.907, p = 0.019). In particular, the rate of emergency cases was found more than threefold in the COVID-19 period. Although there was no significant difference in terms of the grade of hydronephrosis at hospital admission between the two groups, the rates of grade 3 and 4 hydronephrosis were higher in the COVID-period group (1.8-and 3.3-fold, respectively). Conclusion: The rate of complicated ureteral stone disease significantly increased during the COVID-19 restrictions period. Urologists should prioritize the patients most in need of urgent care during COVID-19-like biosocial crisis.

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Introduction: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the face-to-face meetings are delayed to a future date, which is still not clear. However, seminars, meetings and conferences are necessary for updating our knowledge and skills. Web-based seminars (webinars) are the solutions to this issue. This study aimed to show the participant behaviour when webinars present at the COVID-19 pandemic era. Methods: From December 2017 to July 2020, 58 webinars were broadcasted via the Uropedia, electronic library of SUST. Data of all webinars were collected with the YouTube analytics and application of the Uropedia. Data of streaming webinars included participant behaviours such as content views, engagement time, total unique attendees, average engagement time and the number of audience to leads. Data were split into two groups; group-1 is webinars before COVID-19 (before March 2020) and group-2 is the webinars during COVID-19. Results: Total broadcast time and total page view number were found to be 112.6 hours (6761 minutes) and 15 919, respectively. The median participant age was 40.1 y. Median content view and median engagement time were found to be 261.0 and 12.2 minutes, respectively. Comparison of two groups revealed a significant increment in the content views (group-1; 134.0 range = 86.0-87.0 and group-2; 414.0 range = 296.0-602.0, P < .001) and the number of the unique attendees (group 1;18.0 range = 10.0-26.0 and group-2; 57.0 range = 27.0-100.0, P < .001) following COVID-19. However, the median engagement time of the audience did not seem to change with the COVID-19 pandemic (group-1; 11.5 range = 10.0-13.3 minutes and group-2; 13.2 range = 9.4-18.1 minutes, P = .12). Conclusion:The webinars are effective ways to share information and have many advantages, including low cost, reaching a high number of audiences.

Aims To evaluate the awareness of the use of fluoroscopy in endourological procedures, as well as the theoretical and practical applications of preventive measures. Material and Method Between May 2018 and April 2019, a 26‐question survey prepared using Google Docs was sent to urologists via email. Personal information, radiation training and behaviours related to radiation and fluoroscopy usage, and the use of protective equipment were queried. Results A total of 226 participants fully completed and returned the email survey. Of the 226 participants, 78 (34.5%) were academics, 44 (19.4%) were residents while 104 (46.1%) were experts. More than 60% of the participants stated that they participated in the operation requiring less than five fluoroscopy use per week. The majority of operations requiring fluoroscopy consisted of endourological procedures. The lead apron was used by 93% of the participants, but the use of protective glasses and gloves was very low (3.5%). The majority of academicians, experts and residents did not use dosimeters (76.9%, 82.7% and 81.8%, respectively). More than 50% of the participants did not have literature information about the harmful effects of radiation with the use of fluoroscopy. The most common complaints on the day of fluoroscopy were fatigue and headache. Conclusion The lack of information regarding the radiation protection measures and harmful effects of radiation is common among urologists in Turkey. Therefore, systematic training programs on fluoroscopy use and radiation exposure should be provided during urology residency.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of preoperative De Ritis ratio (aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase) (DRR) in patients with transitional cell bladder cancer (TCBC) at initial diagnosis. The secondary objective was to investigate the status of systemic inflammatory parameters, such as neutrophil‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte‐monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and platelet‐monocyte ratio (PMR). Materials and Methods The records of patients with primary TCBC who underwent transurethral resection were retrospectively evaluated. The relationship of DRR and systemic inflammatory parameters with clinicopathological findings, recurrence and progression status was evaluated separately. Results There was no significant difference in the DRR according to the clinicopathological findings, recurrence and progression. Significant differences were found between the NLR and the patient groups for tumour diameter, tumour stage, tumour grade and progression. In univariate analysis, the LMR was found to be associated with progression, and also the PLR and LMR were found to be associated with recurrence. Decrease in LMR and increase in LMR score demonstrated by multiple analysis was shown as independent predictors of progression and recurrence development. Conclusions This paper shows a positive correlation between poor prognosis in TCBC and the systemic inflammatory markers, namely NLR, LMR, PLR and PMR, but not DRR.

Üroonkoloji Bülteni 2014;13:93-98 Bulletin of Urooncology 2014;13:93-98

Our aim was to evaluate the risk of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) formation after en bloc stapling of the renal hilum during transperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomies (LNs). A retrospective review of 35 laparoscopic simple or radical nephrectomies or LNs was carried out. Patients were clinically followed up for renal hilar AVF formation, which could lead to new onset diastolic hypertension, abdominal murmur, and congestive heart failure. In addition, abdominal computed tomography and arteriography were carried out to diagnose renal hilar AVF formation during 6 to 20 months' follow-up. No statistically significant differences were measured between the systolic and the diastolic blood pressures between the preoperative and the postoperative periods (P>0.005). Abdominal murmur and new-onset congestive heart failure were not detected in any of the patients on physical examination. Our results suggest that en bloc stapling of the renal hilum during LN procedures is safe and effective.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) shares several risk factors with diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT) and coronary vascular disease (CVD), which were well‐associated with seasonal fluctuation with the highest peak in winter. In this study, we aimed to determine whether ED demonstrates seasonal fluctuations with the above‐mentioned systemic diseases. Database from a tertiary university hospital between 2010 and 2020 was deciphered to retrieve patients diagnosed with ED. Patients with primary bladder tumour and post‐procedural ED constituted the negative control groups from the same study period. International index of erectile function questionnaire (IIEF‐15) was used to segregate included patients into mild/moderate and severe ED groups. The probability of detecting DM, HT and CVD in patients with severe ED was significantly higher than that of with mild/moderate ED (p < 0.05). More ED symptoms emerged and were diagnosed in the winter seasons even though no statistical significance was observed between patients with mild/moderate and severe ED (p = 0.946, Cramer's V coefficient = 0.19). The seasonal variation of patients with bladder tumour and post‐procedural ED groups showed no significant difference (p > 0.05, both). ED admissions are associated with higher peaks in the winter seasons. This may help in daily clinical practice to warrant better clinical and epidemiological interpretation of ED.