Overactive bladder (OAB) is defined by International Urogynecological Association (IUGA)/ International Continence Society (ICS) as urinary urgency, usually accompanied by frequency and nocturia, with or without urgency urinary incontinence, in the absence of urinary tract infection (UTI) or other obvious pathology. The pathophysiology of OAB is not well understood, however a number of different proteins and cytokines including vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) were found to be important in regulating structural integrity of the bladder wall. Proteome analysis may thus provide significant information with regard to OAB and may help in discovering novel diagnostic disease biomarkers. Sixteen Caucasian women aged 32–78 were included in the study. Patients were placed within 2 groups: OAB group (n = 8) and control group (n = 8). Urine samples were collected, immediately preserved in a protease inhibitor mixture, and frozen at −80 ℃. All samples were then further processed according to the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) manual. Proteins were labeled and analyzed in the mass spectrometer conjugated with liquid chromatograph (data are available via ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD017799). There were no statistically significant differences in demographic data between control and OAB groups. VCAM-1 was the only protein that reached statistical significance as a differentiating protein in both of our experiments assessing the proteomic constitution in OAB patients. Studies involving a larger group of patients may provide further information on urinary bladder proteomics.

Background/Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the most clinically useful questionnaires in UI diagnosis and determine their optimal applicability to specific types of UI. Methods: The MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, and Scopus databases were searched using the following MeSH terms in titles and abstracts: (“questionnaires and urinary incontinence” OR “questionnaires and quality of life”). No language restrictions were applied, and the search was limited to studies involving human subjects. Results: Numerous methods are available to assess the severity of incontinence and its symptoms. Objective measures recommended for the evaluation of urinary incontinence in women include simple investigations combined with thorough clinical history taking. However, these methods alone do not adequately capture patients’ perceptions of their symptoms or their impact on quality of life. To obtain a comprehensive assessment, the International Consultation on Incontinence recommends combining subjective and objective measures. Thus, evaluating urinary incontinence should include both the severity of symptoms and the extent to which they affect daily life. Conclusions: Questionnaires (Qs), as patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures, are valuable tools for identifying and diagnosing dysfunction, assessing its severity, evaluating its impact on quality of life (QoL), and measuring improvement or satisfaction following treatment. Accurate assessment of clinical symptoms and their impact on health-related QoL has become central to contemporary medical outcomes research.

It is estimated that 31–44% of all patients with symptomatic POP and/or UI suffer from sexual dysfunction. We aimed to validate the PISQ-12 in pre-and postmenopausal women and to assess the sexual function before and after POP reconstructive surgery. One hundred and forty sexually active patients were hospitalized due to symptomatic POP and 50 healthy controls were enrolled into the study. The patients were asked to complete PISQ-12, the FSFI and Beck’s depression scale questionnaires twice. The Cronbach’s alpha (α) was used to estimate the internal consistency. The scores were compared using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Improvement in the QoSL (quality of sexual life) was observed in each age group of women. Pre-menopausal patients’ QoSL was much better, both before and after surgery (29.62 and 34.64 points, respectively). The correlation between questionnaires before surgery was 0.63, and after was −0.76. The α value for the PISQ-12 was 0.83 before the procedure and 0.80 afterwards. In all the groups, the test–retest reliability was good—ICC = 0.72. Vaginal reconstructive surgeries improve the QoSL. The only demographic factor influencing the QoSL was the menopausal status. The Polish version of the PISQ-12 is a reliable and responsive instrument for assessing the sexual function in patients with diagnosed POP and/or UI.

The aim of the study was to review publications on the early, most accurate diagnosis of pathological chang­es in the endometrium, which occur during and after tamoxifen (TAM) therapy for breast cancer (BC). Accurate diagnosis of potential endometrial lesions is essential to make correct...

There are still controversies around reconstructive surgeries used in POP treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the QoSL after VNTR vs. TVM surgery due to POP via the use of PISQ-12 and FSFI questionnaires. The study included a group of 121 sexually active patients qualified for reconstructive surgery due to symptomatic POP, and 50 control. The average results of PISQ-12 before and after surgery were compared using the t-test. The significance of the mean differences in demographic groups was measured using the t-test for independent samples and one-way ANOVA. The results in the demographic groups were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis test. Fifty-eight women had VNTR, while 63 had TVM. Results of PISQ-12 revealed significant improvement in the sexual life after reconstructive surgery (27.24 vs. 32.43; p < 0.001, t = 8.48) both after VNTR and TVM. There were no significant differences in the assessment of the QoSL according to PISQ-12 and FSFI results between both analyzed groups of patients (PISQ-12: VNTR vs. TVM; t-test p = 0.19 and FSFI: VNTR vs. TVM; Mann–Whitney U test p = 0.54). VNTR is the treatment of choice in the case of uncomplicated primary POP.