OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the main aspects of diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of 43 patients with gunshot wounds to the penis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The location of the lesion, the presence of associated lesions, the performance of complementary exams, surgical treatment, postoperative complications and long term follow-up of 43 patients with penile lesions from gunshot wounds were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Of 43 cases assessed, 41 were submitted to surgical exploration (95.3%) and 2 were submitted to conservative treatment (4.7%). We found penile lesions involving the corpus cavernosum in 37 cases; the remaining 4 patients presented no lesions involving the corpus cavernosum, urethra or testicles but did in the superficial structures. Ten cases presented an association with testicular lesions and 14 cases association with anterior urethral lesions. CONCLUSION: Penile lesions from gunshot wounds should be treated with immediate surgical intervention. In exceptional situations featuring superficial lesions only conservative treatment may be applied.

INTRODUCTION: We performed a laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy followed by constructing a Y-shaped reservoir extra-corporeally with titanium staples through a 5-cm muscle-splitting Pfannenstiel incision. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Upon completion of the extirpative part of the operation, the surgical specimen was entrapped and removed intact through a 5-cm Pfannenstiel incision. Through the extraction incision, the distal ileum was identified and a 40 cm segment isolated. With the aid of the laparoscope, the ureters were brought outside the abdominal cavity and freshened and spatulated for approximately 1.5-cm. Bilateral double J ureteral stents were then inserted up to the renal pelvis and the ureters were directly anastomosed to the open ends of the limbs of the neobladder. Following this, the isolated intestinal segment was arranged in a Y shape with two central segments of 14 cm and two limbs of 6 cm. The two central segments were brought together and detubularized, with two sequential firings of 80 x 3.5 mm and 60 x 3.5 mm non-absorbable mechanical stapler (Multifire GIA - US Surgical) inserted through an opening made at the lowest point of the neobladder on its anti-mesenteric border. The neobladder was reinserted inside the abdominal cavity and anastomosed to the urethra with intracorporeal laparoscopic free-hand suturing. CONCLUSION: Although this procedure is feasible and the preliminary results encouraging, continued surveillance is necessary to determine the lithiasis-inducing potential of these titanium staples within the urinary tract.

The reproductive biology of Aspidoras fuscoguttatus Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1976 from a stream in São José do Rio Preto, northwestern São Paulo State, Brazil, was monthly investigated in the period of August 1999 to July 2000. Measurements of total length, body weight, gonadal weight and macroscopic assessment of gonadal maturation were performed. Environmental parameters were considered in order to verify associations with the reproductive period. Populational structure showed total length amplitude between 14.2 and 50.8 mm. Pronounced sexual dimorphism was verified. The largest mean values of gonadosomatic relation for females coincided with the rainy season (November to March). Mean length at first sexual maturity was different for males (30.5 mm) and females (37.1 mm). Fecundity varied between 51 and 166 oocytes. Gonadal maturation curve, frequency of maturation stages and size frequency distributions of oocytes in mature ovaries revealed a long reproductive period, suggesting fractional spawning.