TRANSURETHRAL MICROWAVE THERMOTHERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF SYMPTOMATICBENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA

One hundred and forty-four patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia were treated by transurethral microwave thermotherapy betw een January and December 1991. Before entering the study, all patients had a Boyarsky symptom score greater-than-or-equal-to 8, peak flow ra te less-than-or-equal-to 15 ml/s and postvoiding residual urine less-t han-or-equal-to 200 ml. Transurethral thermotherapy with the Prostatro n (Technomed) was carried out as a single session (60 min) without any analgesia or sedation. Acute urinary retention occurred in 19.4% of t he patients after treatment requiring catheterization for 2-3 weeks; m orbidity rate was 5.5%. Six months after treatment, Boyarsky symptom s core decreased from 11.73 +/- 4.97 to 4.40 +/- 3.21 (mean values +/- S D); peak flow rate increased on average from 8.97 +/- 4.18 to 13.07 +/ - 4.87 ml/s and postvoiding residual urine decreased from 135 +/- 17.9 to 63 +/- 34.7 ml. Slight further improvement was shown, in a few pat ients, at the 1-year follow-up visit.