Purpose of ReviewIn this review, we describe the incidence, diagnosis, and management of urethral strictures in women. Recent Findings Definitive repair of urethral strictures in women traditionally utilizes vaginal and labial flaps. Oral mucosal buccal graft urethroplasty also has high success rates, with larger series demonstrating feasibility and durability. Summary Urethral strictures in women are very rare. When they do occur, they are often difficult to diagnose, requiring a high index of suspicion. Women with urethral strictures often present with symptoms of obstructed urinary flow, such as incomplete emptying, straining, and elevated postvoid residual. First line, minimally invasive treatment consists of urethral dilation and urethrotomy, though urethrotomy is rarely performed. Repeat urethral dilation has low success rates compared with urethroplasty, which is a more definitive treatment.

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a dental biomaterial used to arrest dental caries. To better understand SDF’s mechanism of action, we examined the localization of silver within the tissues of SDF-treated teeth. Carious primary teeth fixed within 2 min of SDF application (SDF-minutes, n = 3), at 3 wk after SDF application in vivo (SDF-weeks, n = 4), and at 2 y after multiple SDF applications in vivo (SDF-multiple, n = 1) were investigated in this study. Carious primary teeth without SDF application (no-SDF, n = 3) served as controls. Mineral density and structural analyses were performed via micro–X-ray computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy. Elemental analyses were performed through X-ray fluorescence microprobe and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic techniques. SDF-treated teeth revealed higher X-ray–attenuated surface and subsurface regions within carious lesions, and similar regions were not present in no-SDF teeth. Regions of higher mineral density correlated with regions of silver abundance in SDF-treated teeth. The SDF penetration depth was approximated to 0.5 ± 0.02 mm and 0.6 ± 0.05 mm (mean ± SD) for SDF-minutes and SDF-weeks specimens, respectively. A higher percentage of dentin tubular occlusion by silver or calcium phosphate particles was observed in primary teeth treated with SDF-weeks as compared with SDF-minutes. Elemental analysis also revealed zinc abundance in carious lesions and around the pulp chamber. SDF-weeks teeth had significantly increased tertiary dentin than SDF-minutes and no-SDF teeth. These results suggest that SDF treatment on primary teeth affected by caries promotes pathologic biomineralization by altering their physicochemical properties, occluding dentin tubules, and increasing tertiary dentin volume. These seemingly serendipitous effects collectively contribute to the cariostatic activity of SDF.

No abstract

To assess the role of core body temperature in urinary stone formation using a large clinical dataset. Patients and Methods We retrospectively collected 14 519 039 individual temperature measurements from 580 416 patients with medical history, laboratory values and medication history between 2013 and 2018 at a single institution. After exclusions and matching 2:1 (controls:cases) to account for confounding variables, 7104 patients with a history of urinary stones were identified. Results Patients with a history of urinary stones (cases) had an elevated mean (SD) oral temperature compared to matched controls, at 36.666 (0.17) vs 36.659 (0.20)°C (P = 0.012). Logistic regression of matched samples showed that higher core body temperature was predictive of a history of nephrolithiasis (odds ratio 1.21, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.4; P = 0.015). Conclusion Core body temperature was significantly higher in patients with a history of urinary stones compared to matched controls, contrary to the anticipated thermodynamic considerations leading to crystal aggregation. Given that the core body temperature is elevated, rather than decreased, thermodynamic process driving stone formation is unlikely.

Voiding positions and preferences in men are not well characterized. In this study, we aim to understand the interplay of voiding characteristics and their impact on voiding position. Methods: We designed a 27-item survey to assess voiding characteristics and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) severity in men seen in urology and other outpatient clinics. Participants included adult men patients and adult men accompanying patients at our institution's outpatient clinics. Data collected included demographics, International Prostate Symptom Score questionnaire, stream type (single, split, and dribble), voiding behavior, positional stream quality, and voiding bother. Results: We received 195 completed surveys (80% response rate). Of men queried, 18% (35/195) preferred to sit while voiding. Overall, men who sit had a higher proportion of LUTS (66% [23/35] vs. 41% [66/160]; p = .01), more physical limitations affecting voiding choice (20% [7/35] vs. 3% [5/160]; (p = .001), and a lower desire to stand (6% [2/35] vs. 24% [38/160]; p = .02), compared to men who stand. Men who sit while voiding reported nearly double the amount of voiding associated bother (34% [12/35]) compared to men who stand (18% [28/160]; p = .04). Older aged men reported a similar rate of seated urination compared to younger men. The most common reasons to void seated included comfort and avoidance of spraying. Conclusions: Our findings discourage the use of anecdotal beliefs founded on generalizable characteristics, such as age and stream type, to infer a patient's voiding characteristics. Open dialog with patients regarding voiding preferences may garner important information regarding overall urologic health and better inform urologic care.

Purpose Alterations in the urinary microbiome have been associated with urological diseases. The microbiome of patients with urethral stricture disease (USD) remains unknown. Our objective is to examine the microbiome of USD with a focus on inflammatory USD caused by lichen sclerosus (LS). Methods We collected mid-stream urine samples from men with LS-USD (cases; n = 22) and non-LS USD (controls; n = 76). DNA extraction, PCR amplification of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene, and sequencing was done on the samples. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were defined using a > 97% sequence similarity threshold. Alpha diversity measurements of diversity, including microbiome richness (number of different OTUs) and evenness (distribution of OTUs) were calculated and compared. Microbiome beta diversity (difference between microbial communities) relationships with cases and controls were also assessed. Results Fifty specimens (13 cases and 37 controls) produced a 16S rRNA amplicon. Mean sample richness was 25.9 vs. 16.8 (p = 0.076) for LS-USD vs. non-LS USD, respectively. LS-USD had a unique profile of bacteria by taxonomic order including Bacillales, Bacteroidales and Pasteurellales enriched urine. The beta variation of observed bacterial communities was best explained by the richness. Conclusions Men with LS-USD may have a unique microbiologic richness, specifically inclusive of Bacillales, Bacteroidales and Pasteurellales enriched urine compared to those with non-LS USD. Further work will be required to elucidate the clinical relevance of these variations in the urinary microbiome.

Spatiotemporal implant-bone biomechanics and mechanoadaptive strains in peri-implant tissue are poorly understood. Physical and chemical characteristics of an implant-bone complex (IBC) were correlated in three-dimensional space (along the length and around a dental implant) to gather insights into time related integration of the implant with the cortical portion of jaw bone in a rat. Rats (N = 9) were divided into three experimental groups with three rats per time point 3-, 11-, and 24-day.All rats were fed crumbled hard pellets mixed with water (soft-food diet) for the first 3 days followed by a hard-food diet with intact hard-food pellets (groups of 11-and 24-day only).Biomechanics of the IBCs harvested from rats at each time point was evaluated by performing mechanical testing in situ in tandem with X-ray imaging. The effect of physical association (contact area) of a loaded implant with adapting peri-implant tissue, and resulting strain within was mapped by using digital volume correlation (DVC) technique. The stiffness of the IBC at respective time points was correlated with mechanical strain in bone. Results illustrated that the stiffness of the IBC at 11-day was lower than that observed at 3-day. However, at 24-day, IBC stiffness recovered to that which was observed at 3-day. Correlative microscopy and spectroscopy illustrated that the lower IBC stiffness was constituted by softer and less mineralized peri-implant tissue that contained varying expressions of osteoconductive elements. Lower stiffness observed at 11-day was constituted by less mineralized peri-implant tissue with osteoconductive elements that included phosphorus (P) which was co-localized with higher expression of zinc (Zn), and lower expression of calcium (Ca). Higher stiffness at 24-day was constituted by mineralized peri-implant tissue with higher expressions of osteoconductive elements including Ca and P, and lower expressions of Zn.These spatiotemporal correlative maps of peri-implant tissue architecture, heterogeneous distribution of mineral density, and elemental colocalization underscore mechanoadaptive physicochemical properties of peri-implant tissue that facilitate functional osseointegration of an implant. These results provided insights into 1) plausible "prescription" of mechanical loads as an osteoinductive "therapeutic dose" to encourage osteoconductive elements in the IBC that would facilitate functional osseointegration of the implant; 2) a "critical temporal window" between 3 to 11 days, and perhaps it is this acute phase during which key candidate regenerative molecules can be harnessed to accelerate osseointegration of an implant under load.

No abstract