Clinical and Patient-reported Outcome Measures in Men Referred for Consideration of Surgery to Treat Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: Baseline Results and Diagnostic Findings of the Urodynamics for Prostate Surgery Trial; Randomised Evaluation of Assessment Methods (UPSTREAM).

BACKGROUND: Clinical evaluation of male lower urinary tract symptoms (MLUTS) in secondary care uses a range of assessments. It is unknown how MLUTS evaluation influences outcome of therapy recommendations and choice, notably urodynamics (UDS; filling cystometry and pressure flow studies). OBJECTIVE: To report participants' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and initial diagnostic findings of the Urodynamics for Prostate Surgery Trial; Randomised Evaluation of Assessment Methods (UPSTREAM). UPSTREAM is a randomised controlled trial evaluating whether symptoms are noninferior and surgery rates are lower if UDS is included. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 820 men (≥18 yr of age) seeking treatment for bothersome LUTS were recruited from 26 National Health Service hospital urology departments. INTERVENTION: Care pathway based on routine, noninvasive tests (control) or routine care plus UDS (intervention arm). OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The primary outcome is International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and the key secondary outcome is surgery rates 18 mo after randomisation. International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaires were captured for MLUTS, sexual function, and UDS satisfaction. Baseline clinical and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and UDS findings were informally compared between arms. Trends across age groups for urinary and sexual PROMs were evaluated with a Cuzick's test, and questionnaire items were compared using Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Storage LUTS, notably nocturia, and impaired sexual function are prominent in men being assessed for surgery. Sociodemographic and clinical evaluations were similar between arms. Overall mean IPSS and quality of life scores were 18.94 and 4.13, respectively. Trends were found across age groups, with older men suffering from higher rates of incontinence, nocturia, and erectile dysfunction, and younger men suffering from increased daytime frequency and voiding symptoms. Men undergoing UDS testing expressed high satisfaction with the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Men being considered for surgery have additional clinical features that may affect treatment decision making and outcomes, notably storage LUTS and impaired sexual function. PATIENT SUMMARY: We describe initial assessment findings from a large clinical study of the treatment pathway for men suffering with bothersome urinary symptoms who were referred to hospital for further treatment, potentially including surgery. We report the patient characteristics and diagnostic test results, including symptom questionnaires, bladder diaries, flow rate tests, and urodynamics.

Urethral diverticula in females.

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? This is a review of urethral diverticula in females. In addition to modes of presentation, differential diagnosis, complications and surgical management, the increasingly recognised value of computerised axial imaging, especially with MRI, is highlighted. Urethral diverticula are rare but under-diagnosed entities that may cause a variety of urinary and pelvic symptoms in women. They are best demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging and micturating cysto-urethrography prior to transvaginal surgical excision. Although unlikely, the possibility of malignant transformation should not be forgotten.

The clinical significance and therapeutic implications of extraprostatic invasion.

Invasion of the prostatic margin by cancer establishes a higher risk of disease progression and treatment failure depending upon its extent and other clinical factors. Pathological stage is the most important single prognostic indicator, but determined reliably only in patients having radical prostatectomy. Tumour beyond the prostatic margin or its invasion into the seminal vesicle defines the local stage category as T3, and when confirmed by pathological examination the extent of prostatic margin involvement has prognostic significance. Prediction of extraprostatic invasion may influence therapeutic decisions, but can be difficult to determine for the individual patient prior to treatment. In some individuals having radical prostatectomy, the finding of extraprostatic invasion is unsuspected, and fortunately for the majority of these men the treatment remains curative. On the other hand, when extraprostatic invasion is suspected prior to or at surgery, wide excision may be necessary to achieve negative surgical margins, with other factors contributing independently to the likelihood of subsequent progression. Radiotherapy is an effective alternative treatment for clinical stage T3 and high-risk clinically localized cancer. Recent technological advances and use of combination modality treatment with radiation and hormone manipulation have improved survival outcomes and reduced side-effects. Radiation also has its place as adjuvant treatment following radical prostatectomy in high-risk disease, or as salvage following PSA recurrence, with ongoing trials evaluating potential benefit and toxicity. For clinically localised stage T3 prostate cancer, treatment with surgery or radiotherapy may be highly effective, but multimodality interventions are increasingly being used for primary treatment where clinical assessment indicates that there would otherwise be a high risk for disease progression and therapeutic failure.

A tertiary experience of vesico-vaginal and urethro-vaginal fistula repair: factors predicting success.

OBJECTIVE: To review the outcomes of all patients referred with vesico-vaginal (V VF) and urethro-vaginal (UVF) fistulae to a tertiary centre, and to investigate the patient, fistula and surgical factors relevant to success. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively the case-notes of 41 consecutive patients (32 with V VF; nine with UVF) treated between January 2000 and January 2006. RESULTS: All patients were tertiary referrals, eight after failed local repairs. Four patients were unsalvageable and had a supravesical diversion. In all there were 47 repairs (23 transvaginal; 24 transabdominal) on 37 patients by two specialist surgeons. The fistula was closed in 92%; five V VF and one UVF required a second procedure, and one V VF a third procedure. One patient with a V VF awaits a second attempt at repair. In one V VF (one attempt) and one UVF (three attempts) the procedure failed and the patient had a diversion. A transvaginal approach cured all 11 patients with a V VF and eight of nine with a UVF, whilst an abdominal approach used for larger/complex fistulae was successful in 18 of 24 (75%) attempts (P = 0.13). The major determinants of success were fistula size (>3 cm; P = 0.02) and the availability of tissue for interposition. V VF repairs using Martius/omental interposition were mostly successful, whilst abdominal repairs in which omentum was unavailable tended to fail (37.5% cure; P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Despite varied aetiology, V VF/UVF were repaired successfully in 92% of patients. Complex (V VF) fistulae were challenging and a quarter of these required more than one attempt. Failure of repair was more likely in larger fistulae (>3 cm) requiring an abdominal approach, if omental interposition was not possible. Good-quality tissue interposition for complex fistula is essential for a successful outcome.

Are prostatic biopsies necessary in men aged > or =80 years?

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether prostatic biopsies are necessary in all men aged > or =80 years, as men found to have prostate cancer are frequently treated with a 'watch and wait' policy or with hormonal withdrawal alone, and biopsies are associated with a small but significant complication rate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The findings on a digital rectal examination (DRE), the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, the biopsy and staging bone scan results for all men aged > or = 80 years who had prostatic biopsies over a 3-year period were reviewed, together with those in a group of men aged <80 years for comparison. All biopsy samples had been examined in one of three histopathology units, and 33 consultant urological surgeons contributed. RESULTS: In all, 210 biopsies from 205 men aged > or = 80 years were identified, of whom 163 (79%) had biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer. All 29 men with a PSA level of > or = 100 ng/mL, 98% of 47 with > or = 50 ng/mL, 97% of 76 with > or = 30 ng/mL and 92% of 101 with > or = 20 ng/mL had biopsy cores containing cancer; 63% of men with a PSA level of <20 ng/mL had cancer on biopsy. In men with cancer and a PSA level of > or = 30 ng/mL, 92% had Gleason grade > or = 7 and 93% were treated with hormonal withdrawal alone. In all men with cancer the DRE was abnormal in 91%, the mean number of positive cores was 59% and the bone scan was positive in 18%. The DRE was abnormal in 77% of men with benign biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: In men aged > or = 80 years with a PSA level of > or = 30 ng/mL, at least 97% had prostate cancer, >90% of whom had high-grade disease, and nearly all with cancer received active pharmacological treatment. In the vast majority of these men prostate biopsies did not alter their cancer management. The value of prostatic biopsy in this age group, with a PSA level of > or = 30 ng/mL, is questionable.

Failure of conservative management after the passage of a distal colonic "cast": report of a case.

PURPOSE: The spontaneous passage per rectum of a full-thickness colon "cast" is a rare consequence of acute colonic ischemia. Previous cases have undergone surgery soon afterward because of intractable symptoms. We report a patient who was managed conservatively for 11 months but ultimately required definitive surgery. METHODS: The clinical, radiographic, pathologic, and endoscopic findings were obtained from the case notes and compared with previously reported cases. RESULTS: A 67-year-old obese patient underwent a Hartmann's procedure for a perforated diverticular abscess, which was reversed six months later. On the first postoperative night after the reversal, she had a brief hypotensive episode, and three weeks later passed a 21-cm, full-thickness infarcted piece of colon. She did not develop peritonitis and for 11 months experienced only mild symptoms. Under colonoscopic surveillance, the granulation tissue conduit connecting the remaining viable bowel became increasingly stenosed proximally and difficult to dilate. After three rapidly consecutive episodes of large-bowel obstruction, she required a laparotomy to resect the stricture and restore bowel continuity. From a literature review, this is the eighth case of its kind and the first in which such prolonged conservative management has been possible. CONCLUSIONS: When symptoms permit, it is feasible to manage patients conservatively in the short-term after this unusual event to allow recovery from the initial insult and planning of future surgery. However, definitive treatment is surgical and colonoscopic management should not delay this once the patient is fit for surgery.

An update on the use of 5alpha-reductase inhibitors.

Twelve years ago, finasteride, the first 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, was introduced as drug therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and more recently dutasteride has emerged as an alternative. The efficacy, safety and ability of these 5alpha-reductase inhibitors to reverse the natural progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia have been convincingly demonstrated and both drugs are now well established in the medical armamentarium against the disease. Given the multifactorial etiology of benign hyperplasia, the usefulness of 5alpha-reductase inhibitors in combination with alpha adrenergic blockers has also been investigated and justified in select patients. Wider applications of 5alpha-reductase inhibitors are also emerging, though their perhaps most important new role as chemopreventive agents remains unclear.

5 alpha-reductase inhibitors: what's new?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Medical therapy is now the first-line treatment for most men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. This review aims to highlight the recent contributions to our understanding of 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor usage. RECENT FINDINGS: For the last decade, finasteride has been the only available 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor, acting upon the type 2 isoenzyme of 5-alpha reductase. Dutasteride is the first drug that can inhibit both isoenzymes and is soon to be available. Biochemically it achieves greater and more rapid dihydrotestosterone suppression compared with finasteride. Clinically, it appears to be at least as good in terms of improving symptoms and flow rates, and reducing the risk of acute urinary retention or the requirement for benign prostatic hyperplasia-related surgery. However, until these two drugs are formally compared, the true benefits of additional type 1 isoenzyme inhibition are unknown. The recently reported Medical Therapy of Prostatic Symptoms trial has convincingly demonstrated superior outcomes with combination therapy compared with monotherapy, unlike previous trials of shorter duration. The ability of 5 alpha-reductase inhibitors to prevent disease progression was also confirmed. Newer roles for 5 alpha-reductase inhibitors are also being defined. Finasteride has been shown to reduce and control benign prostatic hyperplasia-related haematuria, although its value in controlling perioperative bleeding is less clear. Their role as chemopreventive agents for prostate cancer is also under investigation. SUMMARY: Recent studies have both clarified and extended the roles of 5 alpha-reductase inhibitors in benign prostatic hyperplasia, and these may expand further if chemopreventive abilities are proved. In addition, dual isoenzyme inhibition will soon be available.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia: solutions to an ageing problem.

As the population ages, the demand for treatment of the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia has never been higher. Equally the choice of treatments has never been greater. This review considers the medical and surgical options.