Microsoft Word - UIN203BF

Urethral calculi Sonography Noninvasive screening technique Abstract We performed sonography in 7 males with membranous and posterior urethral calculi. Sonography demonstrated the urethral calculi in all 7 patients. These findings suggest that sonography is useful as a noninvasive screening technique for urethral calculi. Shigehiko Koga, Department of Urology, Nagasaki University, School of Medicine, Nagasaki City 852 (Japan) Introduction Urethral calculi cause dysuria or urinary retention so that most patients need urgent diagnosis and management. The diagnosis of urethral calculi has traditionally been based on either contrast radiography or urethroscopy. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of sonography for the patients with urethral calculi. Materials and Methods Seven males with urethral calculi were studied with sonography. Urethrocystography and urethroscopy confirmed the diagnosis in all. Sonography was done with a 5-MHz linear transducer (RT 2000 Yokogawa Medical systems, Japan) which was placed on the perineum at the level of the urethra. The patients were scanned in the dorsal lithotomy position. Both sagittal and coronal images of the urethra were obtained when scanning. Table 1. Characteristics of patients