The AUGS Podcast

Asymptomatic microscopic hematuria (AMH) is often incidental and innocuous; however, blood in the urine can be a sign of an underlying malignancy. The 2012 American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines for the evaluation of AMH advised all patients over the age of 35 to be evaluated with CT urography and cystoscopy, despite the incidence and mortality from urological cancer being significantly lower in women. Recently, American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a Committee Opinion1 advocating for strategic, gender specific screening. We therefore sought to perform a cost effectiveness analysis to quantify the cost savings of the decreased number of imaging tests and radiation with the gender specific protocol.

Sonia Dutta, MD [University of California, Irvine]

Coauthors
Southern California Permanente Medical Group: N M Guaderrama
Kaiser Permanente Southern California: E Whitcomb

Approximately one-third of the US population has basic or below basic health literacy skills. Lower health literacy has been associated with poor health outcomes and poor compliance with care plans. Pelvic floor disorder questionnaires are commonly utilized in clinical care and research. Our aim was to evaluate the performance of two commonly used measures, Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory–Short Form 20 (PFDI-20) and Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire–Short Form 7 (PFIQ-7) in a low health literacy population.

Jordan Elise Spencer [University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR]

Coauthors
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: K Hadden, S S Oliphant

In the US, ~350,000 urogyenoclogic meshes are implanted in women annually. ~ 5% are removed for mesh related complications, most commonly mesh exposure and pain. In biofilms, bacteria are less active and less sensitive to antibiotics and human immune system due to the formation of an “exopolysaccharide shield” on the implant surface. Biofilms induce subclinical infection characterized by chronic inflammation at the site of implantation and pain - a paradigm that is compatible with the findings for mesh complications. Here we aimed to: 1. Test the susceptibility of commonly used polypropylene meshes to bacterial biofilm formation; 2. Examine mesh-tissue complexes removed from women who experienced mesh complications for the presence of biofilms.

Rui Liang, MD [Magee-Womens Research Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA]

Coauthors
University of Pittsburgh: S L Palcsey, G E King, P A Moalli

Determining whether hypnotherapy effectively treats urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) compared to pharmacotherapy.

Yuko M. Komesu, M.D [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM]

Coauthors
University of New Mexico: R Schrader, R Sapien, L H Ketai
University of Texas at Austin: R G Rogers

Evaluating the influence of pessary visit intervals on vaginal epithelial abnormalities.

Katie Propst, MD [Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT]

Coauthors
Hartford Hospital: C E Mellen, P Tulikangas
Hartford HealthCare: D M O’Sullivan

Estimating the cumulative incidence of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) after childbirth and to estimate the relative hazard for these disorders as a function of maternal and obstetrical characteristics.

Joan L. Blomquist, MD [Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Baltimore, MD]

Coauthors
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: M. Carroll2, A. Munoz2
Johns Hopkins University: V L Handa