The July - August 2005 issue of the International Braz J Urol presents important contributions from different countries, and as usual the Editor’s Comment highlights some important papers.
     Doctor Rocha and co-workers, from Pellegrin University Hospital Center, Bordeaux, France, analyzed on page 299 the changes in serum catecholamine concentrations in response to surgical stress in patients with pheochromocytoma who undergone videolaparoscopic adrenalectomy. After studying 12 cases, the authors found that pneumoperitoneum significantly increases serum noradrenaline concentrations, manipulation of the adrenal gland significantly increases the serum concentrations of noradrenaline and adrenaline, and the pheochromocytoma ablation significantly decreases serum noradrenaline concentrations.
     Doctors Al-Qudah & Santucci, from Detroit Receiving Hospital and Wayne State University School of Medicine; Michigan, USA, presented on page 315 an extensive study of complications following urethroplasty after analyzing 62 urethroplasties (24 anterior anastomotic, 19 buccal mucosal and 10 fasciocutaneous, 9 posterior anastomotic) with mean follow-up of 29 months. The authors found that serious complications after urethroplasty (3% early and 18% late) appear similar to those reported elsewhere, but minor bothersome complications appear to occur in much higher numbers than previously published (39% early and 40% late). Doctors Allen F. Morey, from Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, USA and Massimo Lazzeri from Casa di Cura Santa Chiara Firenze, Florence, Italy, world recognized experts in urethroplasties, provided excellent editorial comments on this paper.
     Doctor Abreu and colleagues, from Urological Hospital of Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, presented on page 362 a technique to perform laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy followed by constructing a Y-shaped reservoir extra-corporeally with titanium staples through a 5-cm muscle-splitting Pfannenstiel incision. The authors operated on 2 male patients diagnosed with muscle invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Doctors Benjamin R. Lee, from Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New York, USA, and Stephen Y. Nakada, from University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, well-known skillful laparoscopic urologists provided our readers with important editorial comments on this advanced laparoscopic procedure.
     Doctor Tucci Jr. and co-workers, from University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, investigated on page 384 the action of verapamil on the mitochondrial function of kidneys submitted to ischemia without blood reperfusion. The authors aim to study isolated early and late ischemic effects. They concluded that administration of verapamil before warm ischemia provides partial and short-lasting functional protection of the mitochondrial function in kidneys perfused with sodium rich saline. With Euro-Collins solution, verapamil did not show any additional beneficial effect. This fact led the authors to conclude that protective action is effective only under conditions that facilitate increased sodium uptake and/or potassium loss.
     Doctor Antunes and colleagues, from Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, presented on page 331 a study on the influence of age in determining the pathological features of biopsies from patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. The authors evaluated the histological grade, presence of perineural invasion and estimate of tumor volume through measurement of the maximum percentage of tissue with cancer in one fragment and total percentage of tissue with cancer in the sample, in a cohort of 547 patients. Interestingly, the authors found that age did not represent a determining factor for pathological findings concerning Gleason score and estimate of tumor volume by the variables in use.
     Finally, it is again my pleasure to verify that the International Braz J Urol is continuing growing in acceptance and circulation. During the last two months, we received more than 60,000 on-line visits from 118 different countries, and these figures include the International Braz J Urol among the most read urological journals.

Dr. Francisco J. B. Sampaio
Editor-in-Chief