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Objectives: Atherosclerosis may lead to chronic bladder ischemia, which eventually results in lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) have a higher prevalence of atherosclerosis. Methods: A total of 31,559 patients had been diagnosed with or without LUTS between 2000 and 2010 in Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, each was enrolled in the LUTS and non-LUTS cohorts, respectively. The risk of VTE in LUTS and non-LUTS cohorts was calculated by Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: After adjustment for age, sex, and comorbidities, the risk of subsequent VTE was 1.34-fold higher in the LUTS than in the non-LUTS cohort. The adjusted risk of VTE was highest in patients with LUTS with any comorbidity. The age-specific relative risk of VTE was significantly higher in patients aged ≥50 years, particularly in those aged 50–64 years, in the LUTS than in the non-LUTS cohort. Conclusions: LUTS is a risk factor for VTE. Physicians should consider the possibility of underlying VTE in patients aged ≥50 years having cardiovascular comorbidities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the feasibility, safety, and benefits of laparoscopic radical cystectomy (LRC) for patients with bladder cancer (BC) who are older than 75 years and with marginal cardiopulmonary function in a regional teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: The charts of thirty patients who underwent LRC between 2013 and 2016 in a community teaching hospital were reviewed. The patients were subgrouped into the age groups ≥75 years and

Objective: To examine the 10-year risk of stroke among patients with acute urinary retention (AUR) in Taiwan, using a population-based dataset. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 38,433 patients aged > 50 years with AUR, with or without catheterization, and 38,433 matched patients without AUR (controls) sourced from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database from 2001 to 2010. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the association between AUR and the risk of stroke during the subsequent 10-year follow-up period, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, and urinary tract infection. Results: Of the 38,433 patients with AUR, 2805 (7.3%) had strokes during the follow-up period compared with 1077 (2.8%) controls (crude hazard ratio, 2.69; 95% confidence interval, 2.5–2.88). After adjusting for potential confounders, risk of stroke was increased in patients with AUR (hazard ratio, 2.36; 95% confidence interval, 2.19–2.53). There was a significant difference in the 10-year stroke-free survival rate between the patients with and without AUR (p