The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of incontinence after radical prostatectomy and to identify the various factors that can predict urinary continence after radical prostatectomy. Urinary continence following a radical prostatectomy was evaluated in 175 consecutive patients who underwent surgery. Immediately after catheter withdrawal, on the 15th postoperative day, 66% of the patients were incontinent. Varying degrees of incontinence persisted in 53% of the cohort at 1 month postoperatively. Thirty-three, 12, 8 and 2% of the patients remained incontinent at respectively 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of follow-up. A number of possible pre- and peroperative factors which might predict the continence status were examined and related to it at subsequent intervals after the surgical intervention. Preservation of the neurovascular bundles, prior transurethral resection of the prostate, preoperative micturition disorders and age were significant contributors in the prediction of urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy.

Three anaerobic bacteria, isolated from the ceca of rats and mice, converted, through a concerted mechanism, beta-muricholic acid, the predominant bile acid in germfree rats, into omega-muricholic acid. One isolate was a Eubacterium lentum strain; the second and third isolates were tentatively identified as atypical Fusobacterium sp. strains. The conversion of beta-muricholic acid into omega-muricholic acid proceeded in two steps: E. lentum oxidized the 6 beta-hydroxyl group of beta-muricholic acid to a 6-oxo group, which was reduced by either of the two other species to a 6 alpha-hydroxyl group, yielding omega-muricholic acid. This transformation occurred both in vitro and in gnotobiotic rats. Monoassociation of germfree rats with the E. lentum strain gave rise to an unidentified fecal bile acid, probably a derivative of beta-muricholic acid having a double bond in the side chain.

An evaluation of several cold enrichment media for Yersinia enterocolitica showed that the enrichment quotient achieved after 3 weeks at 4 degrees C was highly dependent on the initial cell concentration and the medium used. The latter should be of high nutritional value, in order to allow sufficient growth of Yersinia enterocolitica at a low temperature. Enrichment in typtone--soya broth yielded better results than in--frequently used--phosphate buffer, pH 7.6. While comparing isolation media for Yersinia enterocoliica to be used after cold enrichment, DHL agar was most satisfactory: after 20 h incubation at 29 degrees C, colonies of Yersinia enterocolitica are easily distinguishable and the organisms fully recovered. An urea medium, containing novobiocin as selective agent, also yielded good results. It must be stressed that only human strains of serotypes 0:3 and 0:9 of Yersinia enterocolitica were studied.

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Renovascular hypertension, caused by fibromuscular dysplasia, mainly affects young women in the third decade of life. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is the treatment of choice for solitary lesions with a complete functional result in 40–50% of the cases. Multiple stenoses, involving intrarenal arterioles, cannot be treated by dilatation and are mostly treated by nephrectomy. Nevertheless, those vascular stenoses are often limited to a particular renal segment so that unaffected segments could be spared. Two patients were treated with a partial nephrectomy. The short-term results are promising. We suggest that this treatment modality could be offered as a rational and effective solution to well-selected cases, with multiple, regionally limited arterial stenoses.