Background
Angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 and transmembrane protease serine 2 are critical factors of virus transmission. Expression of angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 is highest in testes, and testicular function and testosterone levels were affected by coronavirus disease 2019. Low testosterone levels are related to infections, especially respiratory tract infections, and could worsen clinical conditions by exacerbating cytokine storms and increasing pro‐inflammatory cytokines.
Objectives
We aimed to evaluate the acute and chronic effects of coronavirus disease 2019 on gonadal functions. Our second aim was to detect the relationship between free testosterone levels and disease prognosis and determine the impact of low‐free testosterone on admission to the intensive care unit.
Methods
Eighty‐one patients with reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction‐confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 were enrolled. Twenty‐nine patients were assessed again for 6 months post‐coronavirus disease 2019 follow‐up, and seven of them had a semen analysis. Serum follicle‐stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, sex hormone‐binding globulin, and total testosterone levels were measured.
Results
In this observational study, 71.6% (n = 58) of patients had low free testosterone levels at baseline, in which 69% were considered secondary hypogonadism. A longer length of hospitalization and increased inflammatory markers (d‐dimer, high‐sensitive C‐reactive protein, and procalcitonin) were detected in the low‐free testosterone group. Follicle‐stimulating hormone, total, free, and bioavailable testosterone levels were lower in patients who required admission to the intensive care unit. Free testosterone levels were inversely correlated with the length of hospitalization and prognostic disease factors. Oligozoospermia and impaired progressive motility were present in 42.8% (3/7) of the patients. In 6 months post‐coronavirus disease 2019 follow‐up, out of 29 patients, 48.2% still had low testosterone levels.
Conclusion
A high rate of hypogonadism (71.6%) was found, especially secondary hypogonadism, and about half of the patients had hypogonadism in the sixth months' follow‐up. Low free testosterone levels were correlated with inflammatory parameters, and it is related to the intensive care unit admission. Studies with long‐term follow‐up data in larger groups are needed to determine persistent hypogonadism and impaired spermatogenesis.
Pediatric OAB patients with high 6 months SS have a higher incidence of additional upper urinary tract pathology. Those with low pre-treatment SS require fewer laboratory tests and other assessments. The SS tool can reduce the number of urodynamics evaluations, and other tests required to diagnose renal damage in children with OAB.
Objective
To compare the clinically significant prostate cancer (csPC)‐detecting results of transperineal and transrectal targeted biopsy (TPTB and TRTB, respectively) by performing matching analysis.
Patients and Methods
This study has used the PC and prostate biopsy database from the Turkish Urooncology Association. A total of 1143 patients with Prostate Imaging–Reporting and Data System (PI‐RADS) with ≥3 lesions on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) and who had received a software‐guided transperineal/transrectal MRI/transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) fusion prostate biopsy with concomitant standard systematic 12‐core biopsy were included in this study. csPC detection rates of the TP and TR approaches were compared following Mahalanobis distance matching within propensity score caliper method. The following four variables were selected as covariates for the matching procedure: age, digital rectal examination findings, PSA density, and the index lesion PI‐RADS score.
Results
The matched sample included 508 TR and 276 TP patients. In both the TP and the TR groups, targeted biopsy was superior to systematic biopsy in detecting csPC (27.5% vs. 24.6%, p < 0.001 and 19.5% vs. 16.3%, p < 0.0001, respectively). Both TPTB and TP systematic biopsy was found to be superior to TRTB and TR systematic biopsy in terms of csPC detection (27.5% vs. 19.5%, p = 0.012 and 24.6% vs. 16.3%, p = 0.006). In patients with an anterior index lesion, an apical index lesion, and a larger prostate, the superiority of TPTB to TRTB was found to be more prominent in terms of csPC detection (37.8% vs. 18.3%, p = 0.044; 34.6% vs. 14.7%, p = 0.002; and 25% vs. 5.1%, p = 0.033, respectively).
Conclusion
Targeted biopsy was found to be superior to systematic biopsy in detecting csPC in both the TP and the TR approaches. The TP approach is preferred because of its clear superiority in detecting csPC in targeted biopsy, especially in patients with anterior and apical lesions and with larger prostates.
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.
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