The May – June 2004 issue of the International Braz J Urol presents interesting contributions and as usual the Editor’s Comment will be close to the list of contents and will highlight some important papers.
     Doctors Rafique and Javed, from Instar Medical College, Pakistan, presented on page 185 a paper on the role of intravenous urography and transabdominal ultrasonography in the diagnosis of bladder carcinoma in patients presenting painless hematuria. The authors found that ultrasonography was significantly more sensitive (96%) in the detection of bladder carcinoma compared to urography (87%). The authors recommended the use of ultrasonography as the initial radiological investigation for detection of bladder carcinomas in patients presenting hematuria. Doctor William H. Bush, Director of Genitourinary Radiology at University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, USA, provided an important editorial comment on this article.
     Doctor Vilar and co-workers, from Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil, presented on page 237 an investigative paper on total bladder replacement with de-epithelialized ileum in dogs. Since one of the most important problems with this kind of procedure is graft retraction, the authors analyzed the value of a silicone modeler inside the neobladder for preventing such a retraction. The authors found a significant statistically difference on bladder capacity between the groups with and without the use of a silicone modeler and concluded that the intravesical modeler prevented the retraction of the neobladder of de-epithelialized ileum.
     Doctors Mariano and Teffili, from Porto Alegre, Brazil, presented on page 192 a somewhat controversial paper on laparoscopic partial cystectomy for treating bladder carcinoma. The authors studied a selected group of 6 patients and performed laparoscopic partial cystectomy with lymphadenectomy. The resection margins, as well as lymph nodes, were free of neoplasia. In a mean follow-up of 30 months, one patient developed local and metastatic disease. The authors concluded that laparoscopic partial cystectomy could be an alternative surgical method for treating selected cases of patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Although their initial results are optimistic, we must remember the risk of tumor implantation with such a procedure.
     Doctor Bezerra and colleagues, from ABC Medical School, Brazil, presented on page 230 a comparative analysis between open and laparoscopic Burch surgery. The authors found that the efficacy of both methods is similar, and, in addition, they did not find statistically significant advantages of laparoscopic surgery over open surgery, concerning recovery in the immediate postoperative period.
     Doctor Claro and co-workers, from Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil, published on page 199 a paper on the efficacy and safety of the association of high dose vitamin E and extracorporeal shock wave therapy as a non-invasive treatment for Peyronie’s disease. Interestingly, the authors found that this association represents a good option for treatment of the penile deformity. Doctor Wolfgang Weidner, Director of Urology at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, a world expert in this topic, provided an important editorial comment on this article.

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