Combined MRI and MR spectroscopy of the prostate has no diagnostic advantage in staging performance over MRI alone. The mean tumor volumes, estimated by MR spectroscopy, differ statistically significantly between T2 and T3 tumors.

Administration of low amounts of endogenous hormones - so-called micro-dosages - are supposed to represent a major challenge in doping analysis. To model such a situation, we have studied transdermal administrations of 2.4 mg/24 h testosterone patches and examined various steroid concentrations in blood, urine, and saliva of 11 volunteers. Multiple samples were collected at t = 0, 3, 6, 9, 24, 48, and 72 h in four different phases, i.e., all combinations with/without physical exercise and with/without testosterone. Testosterone was analyzed by enzyme-linked-immuno-assay as well as by mass spectrometry and validated in an accredited anti-doping laboratory. Circadian controls with and without exercise did not provoke prominent alterations of whole, free, and salivary testosterone. Testosterone application for 24 h led to a significant (all p < 0.001) mean increase above controls: total testosterone (median: 5.2 vs. 8.0 ng/mL), free testosterone (median: 11.3 vs. 15.6 pg/mL), and salivary testosterone (median: 62.4 vs. 99.9 pg/mL). Additionally, all three testosterone measurements indicated significant correlations to each other (all r > 0.538, all p < .001). Circadian-matching showed peaking testosterone values after 6 h and 9 h, reaching highest augmentation up to 252.6 ± 123.5% in saliva after 9 h. After removal of the testosterone patch, all testosterone levels in blood, saliva, and urine returned to baseline within 24 h. Different techniques of hormone detection (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)) indicated significant correlations. Results indicate that saliva, blood, and urine exhibit comparable hormone augmentation during micro-dose testosterone application, indicating a possible consideration in future doping analysis. The inter-individual variability was high in all biofluids, requiring the use of an individual biological passport rather than statistical values. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Even though exercise generally has a positive effect on health, intensive exercise can have adverse effects on the vascular system of adults. This study aimed to investigate the association between training duration and intensity and vascular structure and function in 427 physically active children and adolescents (14.0 ± 1.94 years). In this study, we examined carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), carotid diameter, and cIMT:diameter-ratio as parameters of carotid arterial structure and arterial compliance (AC), stiffness index β (β), elastic modulus (Ep), and carotid pulse wave velocity (PWVβ) as parameters of carotid arterial function with high-resolution ultrasound. We collected central systolic blood pressure (cSBP) and aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) as parameters of central arterial stiffness with an oscillometric device. We used the MoMo Physical Activity Questionnaire to record training duration and intensity. Training duration (p = 0.022) and intensity (p = 0.024) were associated with higher cIMT. Further, training duration was associated with lower central arterial stiffness (cSBP: p = 0.001; aPWV: p = 0.033) and improved AC (p &lt; 0.001). Higher training intensity was related to improved AC (p &lt; 0.001) and larger carotid diameter (p = 0.040). Boys presented thicker cIMT (p = 0.010), improved AC (p = 0.006), and lower central arterial stiffness (cSBP: p &lt; 0.001; aPWV: p = 0.016) associated with higher training duration. Girls presented improved AC (p = 0.023) and lower Ep (p = 0.038) but higher β (p = 0.036) associated with higher training duration. Only boys demonstrated thicker cIMT (p = 0.016) and improved AC (p = 0.002) associated with higher training intensity. A quintile analyses of the training duration revealed thicker cIMT of children and adolescents in Q1 and Q5 than that in Q4 and Q5. Besides, Q1 showed lower cSBP compared to Q4 and Q5. Regarding training intensity, Q5 had thicker cIMT than Q2 and Q3. Although a higher training load is associated with thicker cIMT, the common carotid artery is also more elastic. This suggests that a higher training load leads to a functional adaptation of the carotid artery in youth.

Young athletes most often exceed the physical activity recommendations of the World Health Organization. Therefore, they are of special interest for investigating cardiovascular adaptions to exercise. This study aimed to examine the arterial structure and function of young athletes 12–17 years old and compare these parameters to reference values of healthy cohorts. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), carotid diameter, cIMT÷carotid diameter-ratio (cIDR), arterial compliance (AC), elastic modulus (Ep), β stiffness index (β), and carotid pulse wave velocity (PWVβ) were determined using ultrasound in 331 young athletes (77 girls; mean age, 14.6 ± 1.30 years). Central systolic blood pressure (cSBP) and aortic PWV (aPWV) were measured using the oscillometric device Mobil-O-Graph. Standard deviation scores (SDS) of all parameters were calculated according to German reference values. The 75th and 90th percentiles were defined as the threshold for elevated cIMT and arterial stiffness, respectively. Activity behavior was assessed with the MoMo physical activity questionnaire, and maximum power output with a standard cardiopulmonary exercise test. One-sample t-tests were performed to investigate the significant deviations in SDS values compared to the value “0”. All subjects participated in competitive sports for at least 6 h per week (565.6 ± 206.0 min/week). Of the 331 young athletes, 135 (40.2%) had cIMT &gt;75th percentile, 71 (21.5%) had cSBP &gt;90th percentile, and 94 (28.4%) had aPWV&gt;90th percentile. We observed higher cIMT SDS (p &lt; 0.001), cIDR SDS (p = 0.009), and AC SDS (p &lt; 0.001) but lower β SDS (p &lt; 0.001), Ep SDS (p &lt; 0.001), and PWVβ SDS (p &lt; 0.001) compared to the reference cohort. The cSBP SDS (p &lt; 0.001) and aPWV SDS (p &lt; 0.001) were elevated. In conclusion, cIMT and cIDR were higher in young athletes than in a reference cohort. Furthermore, young athletes presented better carotid elasticity and lower arterial stiffness of the carotid artery. However, central arterial stiffness was higher compared to the reference cohort. The thickening of the carotid intima-media complex in combination with a reduction in arterial stiffness indicates a physiological adaptation to exercise in youth.

Objective: Many patients with localized prostate cancer (PCa) do not immediately undergo radical prostatectomy (RP) after biopsy confirmation. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of "time-from-biopsy-to-prostatectomy" on adverse pathological outcomes. Materials and Methods: Between January 2014 and December 2019, 437 patients with intermediate-and high risk PCa who underwent RP were retrospectively identified within our prospective institutional database. For the aim of our study, we focused on patients with intermediate-(n = 285) and high-risk (n = 151) PCa using D'Amico risk stratification. Endpoints were adverse pathological outcomes and proportion of nerve-sparing procedures after RP stratified by "time-from-biopsy-to-prostatectomy": ≤3 months vs. >3 and < 6 months. Medians and interquartile ranges (IQR) were reported for continuously coded variables. The chi-square test examined the statistical significance of the differences in proportions while the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine differences in medians. Multivariable (ordered) logistic regressions, analyzing the impact of time between diagnosis and prostatectomy, were separately run for all relevant outcome variables (ISUP specimen, margin status, pathological stage, pathological nodal status, LVI, perineural invasion, nerve-sparing). Results: We observed no difference between patients undergoing RP ≤3 months vs. >3 and <6 months after diagnosis for the following oncological endpoints: pT-stage, ISUP grading, probability of a positive surgical margin, probability of lymph node invasion (LNI), lymphovascular invasion (LVI), and perineural invasion (pn) in patients with intermediate-and high-risk PCa. Likewise, the rates of nerve sparing procedures were 84.3 vs. 87.4% (p = 0.778) and 61.0% vs. 78.8% (p = 0.211), for intermediate-and high-risk PCa patients undergoing surgery after ≤3 months vs. >3 and <6 months, respectively. In multivariable adjusted analyses, a time to surgery >3 months did not significantly worsen any of the outcome variables in patients with intermediate-or high-risk PCa (all p > 0.05). Engl et al. Time-From-Biopsy-to-Prostatectomy Conclusion: A "time-from-biopsy-to-prostatectomy" of >3 and <6 months is neither associated with adverse pathological outcomes nor poorer chances of nerve sparing RP in intermediate-and high-risk PCa patients.

In our study, only the criteria "obliteration of the rectoprostatic angle" and "biopsy Gleason score" were of predictive value for the diagnosis of a T3 prostate carcinoma. The other MR imaging criteria and the preoperative PSA levels had no additional benefit.

The assessment of aortic root dimensions is a cornerstone in cardiac pre-participation screening as dilation can result in severe cardiac events. Moreover, it can be a hint for an underlying connective tissue disease, which needs individualized sports counseling. This study examines the prevalence of aortic root dilatation in a cohort and its relationship to arterial stiffness as an early marker of cardiovascular risk due to vascular aging. From May 2012 to March 2018, we examined 281 young male athletes (14.7 ± 2.1 years) for their aortic root dimension. Moreover, we noninvasively assessed arterial stiffness parameter during pre-participation screening. Mean aortic diameter was 25.9 ± 3.1 mm and 18 of the 281 (6.4%) athletes had aortic root dilation without other clinical evidence of connective tissue disease. After adjusting for BSA, there was no association of aortic root diameter to pulse wave velocity (p = −0.054 r = 0.368) nor to central blood pressure (p = −0.029 r = 0.634). Thus, although a significant proportion of young athletes had aortic root dilatation, which certainly needs regular follow up, no correlation with arterial stiffness was found. It could be suggested that a dilated aortic root in young athletes does not alter pulse waveform and pulse reflection, and thus there is no increased cardiovascular risk in those subjects.

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