In brief | Nature Reviews Urology

SURGERY The rate at which registrars attain proficiency in laparoscopic surgery is markedly enhanced by training with a virtual reality simulator. Skills equivalent to an experience level of

20–50 laparoscopic salpingectomies were obtained by the 11 predominantly female gynecology/obstetrics trainees randomized to the virtual reality group. In the same period, the 10 trainees

in the standard education group attained a proficiency level equivalent to <5 procedures. Larsen, C. R. _ et al_. Effect of virtual reality training on laparoscopic surgery: randomised

controlled trial. _BMJ_ doi:10.1136/bmj.b1802. MALE FACTOR INFERTILITY The outcomes of bilateral varicocelectomy are not superior to those of left-side-only repair in infertile men with left

clinical and right subclinical varicoceles. Both procedures, performed using a retroperitoneal approach in 51 and 53 patients in China, improved sperm concentration, motility and morphology

markedly and to a similar degree. Zheng, Y. Q. _ et al_. Efficacy of bilateral and left varicocelectomy in infertile men with left clinical and right subclinical varicoceles: a comparative

study. _Urology_ 73, 1236–1240 (2009). MALE FACTOR INFERTILITY The post-orchiopexy fertility index of prepubertal boys with an undescended testis was significantly greater in those

randomized to 4 weeks of preoperative treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Twelve of the 24 boys (mean age 34.5 months) in the study performed in Tunisia received a daily

1.2 mg dose of GnRH via nasal spray. GnRH is thought to promote maturation of germ cells. Jallouli, M. _ et al_. Neoadjuvant gonadotropin-releasing hormone therapy before surgery and effect

on fertility index in unilateral undescended testes: a prospective randomized trial. _Urology_ 73, 1251–1254 (2009). PEDIATRICS Primary vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is thought to be inherited

as an autosomal dominant trait. The observation that some parents of children with the condition are unaffected led Ali Gharavi and colleagues to investigate the possibility of recessive

inheritance. Genome-wide linkage analysis of 72 affected individuals from 12 families of diverse ethnicity has confirmed this hypothesis, identifying a major new locus for primary VUR on

chromosome 12p11-q13. Weng, P. L. _ et al_. A recessive gene for primary vesicoureteral reflux maps to chromosome 12p11q13. _J. Am. Soc. Nephrol._ doi:10.1681/ASN.2008111199. RIGHTS AND

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