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Introduction: The Optilume® Paclitaxel-coated urethral dilatation balloon is an alternative to conventional endoscopic treatments that combines mechanical dilatation with local delivery of paclitaxel., Objective: To describe the success rate and analyze the safety of the device in real clinical practice. To evaluate possible predictors of treatment failure., Materials and Methods: Retrospective multicenter study in patients diagnosed with urethral stricture and treated with an Optilume® balloon in routine clinical practice. Data were collected from flowmetry, questionnaires (PROM and IPSS) and cystoscopy before surgery, and 3, 6 and 12 months after the procedure, according to standard practice. Surgical success was defined as the absence of subsequent urethral manipulation and a Qmax >10 ml/s., Results: 238 patients treated with Optilume® in 12 Spanish hospitals between May 2021 and April 2024 were included in the study. Of these, 156 who had a minimum follow-up of 3 months, were analyzed. Median stricture length: 1.5 cm (0.5-5.3), mainly in bulbar urethra (87.7%). Of the total, 12.8% of patients had a history of pelvic radiotherapy, and 81.4% had undergone prior urethral manipulation. Postoperative complications were reported in 14.2% of the total. The treatment success rate was 73.8%, with a median follow-up of 8 months (5-12). No predictors of stricture recurrence were identified. Recurrence rates were higher in strictures located in the posterior versus anterior urethra (42.9% vs. 24.6%, p = 0.126). No significant differences were observed between patients with and without prior urethral manipulation., Conclusion: Treatment with Optilume® has been shown to be safe and effective in short-term routine clinical practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None of the authors have any conflict of interest to declare in relation to the content of this article., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U.)

Introduction: The aim of this study was to mesure the expression of gamma interferon in HPV and Chlamydia trachomatis infection in squamous intraepithelial lesions., Method: Samples from 100 patients diagnosed by colposcopy with or without squamous intraepithelial lesions were used in the present study. Each patient was found to be infected by HPV and C.trachomatis. Relative gamma interferon mRNA expression was assessed using a real-time reverse transcriptase PCR assay (RT-PCR)., Results: The relative units of expression of gamma interferon mRNA were 13, 1.8 and 0.3, for HPV and C.trachomatis co-infection, or HPV or C.trachomatis infection, respectively., Conclusion: HPV and C.trachomatis could overstimulate the expression of gamma interferon., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To develop and validate a rapid administration questionnaire to assess patient satisfaction with the pharmaceutical care (PhC) service in Spanish community pharmacies., Methods: A semi-structured and self-administered questionnaire was designed focused on the cumulative experience of patients with the PhC service. This was reviewed by a panel of 8 experts in 2 rounds. The validation was carried out in community pharmacies that performed the PhC service and agreed to participate. All patients or their caregivers who attended a pharmacy during the study period, and who could read and write, were included. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to assess the validity as evidence of internal structure and reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient., Results: A total of 8 community pharmacies belonging to 7 provinces of Spain took part and 103 questionnaires were obtained. Factor analysis revealed a single component explaining 33.6% of the total variance. We obtained a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.75. Patients additional comments expressed in 9.7% of the questionnaires were related to emphasising, and thanking for, the care provided by the PhC service., Conclusions: The questionnaire developed has provided evidence of content validity, internal structure validity, and reliability to assess the patient satisfaction with the PhC service in Spanish community pharmacies., (Copyright © 2011 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)