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Twelve patients with genuine stress incontinence of urine were investigated using manometric and electrophysiological techniques. All were shown to have slowed conduction in the perineal branch of the pudendal nerve which innervates the periurethral striated sphincter muscle. The mean perineal nerve terminal motor latency in these patients was 3.9 +/- 0.8 (ms) and in 20 age and parity matched control subjects was 2.0 +/- 0.2 (ms) (P less than 0.001). These results are consistent with a neurogenic factor in patients with genuine stress incontinence of urine which may have implications regarding selection of patients for surgery to restore urethral competence.

OBJECTIVE To report the largest single series of renal transplant patients (adults and children) with urolithiasis, assess the risk factors associated with urolithiasis in renal transplant recipients, and report the outcome of the multimodal management by endourological and open procedures. PATIENTS AND METHODS The records of all patients undergoing renal transplantation between 1977 and 2003 were reviewed. In all, 2085 patients had a renal transplant at our centre and 21 (17 adults and four children) developed urinary tract calculi. Their mode of presentation, investigations, treatments, complications and outcomes were recorded. Investigations included one or more of the following; ultrasonography (US), plain abdominal X‐ray, intravenous urography, nephrostogram and computed tomography. Management of these calculi involved extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), flexible ureteroscopy and in situ lithotripsy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), open pyelolithotomy and open cystolitholapaxy. RESULTS Thirteen patients had renal calculi, seven had ureteric calculi and one had bladder calculi. The incidence of urolithiasis was 21/2085 (1.01%) in the series. Urolithiasis was incidentally discovered on routine US in six patients, six presented with oliguria or anuria, including one with acute renal failure, four with a painful graft, three with haematuria, one with sepsis secondary to obstruction and infection and in one, urolithiasis was found after failure to remove a stent. Ten patients (63%) had an identifiable metabolic cause for urolithiasis, two by obstruction, two stent‐related, one secondary to infection and in six no cause was identifiable. Thirteen required more than one treatment method; 13 (69%) were treated by ESWL, eight of whom required multiple sessions; eight required ureteric stent insertion before a second procedure and four required a nephrostomy tube to relieve obstruction. Two patients had flexible ureteroscopy and stone extraction, three had a PCNL and one had open cystolithotomy. PCNL failed in one patient who subsequently had successful open pyelolithotomy. All patients were rendered stone‐free when different treatments were combined. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of urolithiasis in renal transplant patients is low. There is a high incidence of metabolic causes and therefore renal transplant patients with urolithiasis should undergo comprehensive metabolic screening. Management of these patients requires a multidisciplinary approach by renal physicians, transplant surgeons and urologists.

The present series suggests that the position and completeness of the lower loop do influence symptom severity. Proper attention to detail whilst placing a stent should help reduce the incidence and severity of stent-related symptoms.

This study of the learning curve of a single surgeon suggests that competence at performing PCNL is reached after 60 cases and excellence after 115. Radiation parameters are a valuable tool in the assessment of operative competence.

In a retrospective study of 185 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis and ureter, of whom 127 were treated by total nephroureterectomy and 58 by conservative resection, the survival of those with superficial well differentiated tumours was greater than 90% in each group. When urothelium was left behind after conservative resection, there was a 22% rate of recurrence on the same side but this almost only occurred when the original tumour had been multifocal. Post-operative radiotherapy did not improve survival.

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Over a period of 57 months, 404 patients with distal ureteral calculi were treated by in situ SWL on a Storz Modulith SL 20 lithotripter and 163 by ureteroscopy (URS) and Swiss Lithoclast stone fragmentation. The case notes on these patients were reviewed for comparison of the initial stone number and individual length and for the calculation of the stone-free, treatment, retreatment, secondary procedure, and complication rates. Complete data were available on 447 patients. The median stone length was 7.0 (range 4-25) mm in the SWL group and 8.0 (range 5-13) mm in the URS group. The single-treatment stone-free rates for the SWL and URS groups were 74.8% and 89.7%, respectively, for single stones and 50.0% and 88.9%, respectively, for multiple (>1) stones. The mean treatment rates for the SWL and URS groups were 1.97 and 1.03, respectively, for single stones and 2.83 and 1.00, respectively, for multiple stones. The mean treatment rate for single stones subjected to SWL increased with increasing stone length (1.57 for stones <8 mm and 2.38 for stones >8 mm), whereas this was not the case for patients submitted to URS (1.20 and 1.27, respectively). The re-treatment rate for each group showed a reciprocal trend. Of the SWL group, 25.9% of the patients eventually required URS to render them stone-free. Nearly all (96%) of the patients undergoing SWL were treated as outpatients. The mean hospitalization in the URS group was 1.1 days. Three patients who underwent URS sustained a ureteral perforation, which was managed successfully by double-J stent insertion. The ideal primary treatment for small (<8 mm) distal ureteral calculi is in situ SWL, with URS plus Lithoclast fragmentation being reserved for failed SWL, single stones >8 mm in length, and multiple stones.