EXPERIENCE WITH THE 2ND GENERATION UROLUME PROSTATIC STENT

Objective To assess the efficacy of the new, second generation UroLume (American Medical Systems) prostatic stent. Patients and methods Fort y-seven men with symptomatic and objective evidence of bladder outflow obstruction who were fit for a transurethral resection accepted, as a n alternative, the insertion of a new prostatic stent which shortens l ess than its predecessor. Results It was possible to insert the stent into 44 of the 47 men, All patients voided spontaneously following ste nt insertion, Thirty-three patients had their stent inserted either as a day case or with an overnight stay, Six patients were lost to follo w-up and two died, Of the remaining 36 patients 22 have now been follo wed for 2 years, with a mean obstructive score of 1.6 (range 0-12), a mean irritative score of 2.5 (range 0-10) and a mean peak flow of 16.8 mL/s (range 3-31). Fourteen stents had to be removed; in the majority of cases this was because of stent migration or the development of ep ithelial hyperplasia within the lumen of the stent. Conclusion Because of the development of epithelial hyperplasia and stent migration in a pproximately one-third of men in this study, a third generation stent has now been developed, Before permanently implanted stents can be rec ommended for widespread use, the efficacy of new stents should be asse ssed in specialist units with large numbers of patients and adequate f acilities for follow-up.