Richard J. Scotti, MD

:  “Hello,       I am Dr. Richard Scotti, the Division Director for Urogynecology for 

.        We’re here at the International Federation of Gynecologists and       Obstetricians in Washington, D.C.  This       is an International Meeting, and I have the privilege of interviewing our       international guest Professor Mauro Cervigni from Rome, Italy who is a       noted Urogynecologist.  I would like to ask him a couple of questions about some of       the new technologies and some of the things that he’s engaged in.        Good morning, Professor Cervigni, I know that you’ve been very       involved in some of the newer concepts in the treatment of urinary       incontinence in women, perhaps, you might want to let our listenership       know exactly what you’re doing and why you have embraced this new       philosophy.”

:  “Yes,       the treatment of stress urinary incontinence has been changing because it       evolved to a mini invasive approach just to treat the problem of       incontinence in women.  The mini invasive approach has many advantages, one is that       it is a day case procedure that can be performed one day as an outpatient       procedure.  The patient can       leave the hospital the next day from the operation and get back to their       own normal daily activity in a week.        This is very important for women that are very active and suffer       from this kind of benign pathology, which is extremely distressful for       women.  This mini invasive approach consists of inserting a very       short tape below the urethra which is the canal that brings the urine       outside from the bladder and then creating a kind of reconstruction of the       urethra in which when women go on to their activities like lifting some       weight, coughing, or jumping, there is no more leakage of urine.”

:  “Now       I was privileged to be with you in Rome and observe you do some of these       procedures and began doing them myself here.        I know that there are quite a number of American practitioners that       now use this procedure, which is known as the TVT – tension free vaginal       tape; it certainly is a breakthrough.        How long does it take you to do one of these and how does that       compare to the methods that you were doing prior to this new       development?”

:  “Yes,       this is a real new advancement in the sense of the treatment because the       procedure is very short, it lasts no more than twenty minutes, and it can       be performed under local anesthesia without any general anesthesia so the       patient is awake.  This is an       important advantage because a woman can cough so it’s possible to       modulate the exact tension of the tape below the bladder so it is a way to       exactly assess the real function of the bladder.        The old treatments like the traditional one, the open procedure       with general anesthesia, can create some problem in the post-operative       period in that women sometimes have problems of voiding - they have       difficulty urinating.  With       this new approach, thanks to the loosely positioning of the tape, the       woman can immediately start to urinate without any problems.”

:  “I       appreciate your input, Professor, and I think we’re just about out of       time.  We look forward to       seeing what the long term results are; I think now we’re up to about       five years with some fairly good 85%-90% or so success rate which       certainly compares favorably with other methods so thank you very much for       your time.”

:  “We’ll       see you in Rome at the International Urogynecology Association meeting.”

:  “Dr.       Cervigni is chairing the next meeting of the International Urogynecology       Association which will be held in Rome, Italy from October 21-25, 2000.        Thank you, Mauro.”

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OBGYN.net Conference CoverageFIGO 2000 INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION of GYNECOLOGY & OBSTETRICS: Washington DC, USA

Richard J. Scotti, MD

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