Many thanks to Dr. John Barry for his thoughtful capturing and sharing of these pearls during the sessions at the 2021 meeting Indian Wells, CA.

  • It was great to be back together again in-person.
  • Six-month LHRH formulations are a good idea.
  • Diagnostic urine tests for PCa are coming of age; will they become an acceptable PCa screening test for PCPs so they won’t have to do those icky DREs?
  • Wearable fitness trackers can be used to monitor postoperative patient physical activity.
  • Intermediate-risk PCa patients may be candidates for active surveillance if they have favorable genomic prostate cancer scores.
  • Partial cystectomy is being rediscovered for the treatment of localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
  • Thulium is winning the laser race for endoscopic treatment of renal and ureteral stones and tumors.
  • Pelvic MRIs during yoga poses show interesting images of women’s lower urinary tracts.
  • An fMRI protocol for investigation of CNS pathways that cause or are associated with the overactive bladder has been validated. This is exciting.
  • Beta 3 agonists are becoming preferred over antimuscarinics for the pharmacologic treatment of the overactive bladder.
  • Testosterone replacement therapy can now be accomplished by injecting it, putting it on one’s skin, snorting it with a gel, or taking a pill. Prescribers and payers need to know the relative costs.
  • Point-counter-point sessions are no fun when the combatants agree with each other.
  • Most 2-minute poster presentations have too much small print information on the single slide.
  • Should we use a capital “F” whenever “foley” appears in front of “catheter?” He really was a great urologist.
  • Should we remove the apostrophe from the plural form of an acronym (for example, MRIs instead of MRI’s)?
  • If one has been properly introduced by a session moderator, there’s no need for the speaker to repeat it before beginning the presentation.
  • Room lights should be dimmed for videos and many slide presentations, especially when letters and numbers are simply a darker shade of the background.
  • Not following the WSAUA guidelines for slide design and content makes it difficult for a speaker’s message to be grasped by the audience.
  • Low dose CT scans can satisfactorily diagnose urinary tract stones in obese patients.
  • A bladder urine culture may not reflect the bug behind a stone.
  • Prone ultrasound-guided percutaneous renal access is becoming popular, but fluoroscopy is often added to dilate the tract, pass wires and tubes, and document stone clearance.
  • Opened and unused items during a procedure are expenses that can be mitigated with simple check lists.
  • Single-use catheters for CIC are probably an unnecessary expense. The UTI rate seems to be the same as that for one-catheter per week. (Three symptomatic UTIs per year is usual for CIC patients.)
  • Some urologic oncologists lose track of time when they speak from a podium.
  • It you must die, do so before John Prince dies so he can deliver your eulogy at the WSAUA business meeting.
  • Nearly 20 percent of AUA members are in the WSAUA.
  • See the new AUA microhematuria guideline algorithm.  It’s well thought out.
  • Nitrofurantoin seems to be the best prophylactic antibiotic for UTI prevention in children.
  • Prediction: There will be a US migration from transrectal to transperineal biopsies of the prostate.
  • Prediction: PSMA  PET CTs will replace bone scans, MRI and CT scans for prostate cancer diagnosis and staging.
  • The VA’s Care Assessment Need (CAN) score is better than the “Eye Ball” test to estimate life expectancy for cancer screening and treatment.
  • Oncologists often refer to Charlson’s Comorbidity Score or Index, unfortunately, they seem to simply count comorbidities rather than properly use the weighted scoring system.
  • Good performance status and response to medical therapy are keys to successful cytoreductuve renal cell carcinoma surgery. A flat response curve after medical therapy provides a 3-6 month window for delayed cytoreductive surgery.
  • The Round Table is great fun.