URODYNAMIC CHANGES IN BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA PATIENTS TREATED BY TRANSURETHRAL MICROWAVE THERMOTHERAPY

Our study describes the results obtained in 44 patients with benign pr ostatic hyperplasia (BPH) who underwent transurethral microwave thermo therapy (TUMT) and their follow-up at 12 months. Prostatron, a prostat ic TUMT device which comprised a microwave heat generator and a coolin g system, was used at our centre. Forty-four out of the 60 patients gi ven the treatment had a 12-month follow-up to be evaluated. The evalua tion of subjective symptoms, according to the Boyarsky symptom score, demonstrated a significant rate of response (p < 0.0005). The analysis of pressure-flow recordings demonstrated a reduction of mean detrusor opening pressure (p < 0.0005), a reduction of detrusor pressure at ma ximum flow 12 months after treatment (p < 0.0005) and an improvement o f mean values of maximum flow after treatment (p < 0.0005). This study shows that TUMT, though it cannot be considered an alternative to sur gical or endoscopic therapy of BPH for severely obstructed patients, c an produce improvement of both subjective and objective parameters of mild prostatic bladder outflow obstruction.