Management of patients with LUTS suggestive of BPH

The QUIBUS study offers some insights into the current diagnosis and treatm ent of LUTS suggestive of BPH in Italy. As diagnosis is concerned, uroflowm etry and PSA testing were performed in a high percentage of cases (64 and 8 9%, respectively). Both transrectal ultrasonography and prostate biopsy wer e more frequent for increasing values of PSA, this suggesting that are used as screening procedures for prostate cancer. However, transrectal ultrason ography was performed overall in a large proportion of patients (61%), repr esenting a routine examination in some centers. As treatment is concerned, the majority of QUIBUS patients had undergone or were undergoing medical th erapy. Alphalytics were the drugs most commonly prescribed by urologists wh ile primary care physicians showed the attitude to prescribe more frequentl y finasteride. On the surgical side, transurethral prostatectomy and open s urgery were the most commonly employed procedures, suggesting that little r oom is left at present to minimally invasive procedures in Italy. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.