Non-surgical Treatment of BPH [antikvár]

The frequency of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) has progressed at the same rate as life expectancy. All the statistics are in agreement on this point: 80% of men will be treated for BPH, 30% of those reaching 80 years of age will undergo surgery and it is possible to state that no one will be spared this illness if he survives long enough. With the progressive ageing of the population, BPH has now become a public health problem and its socioeconomic effect is of vitai importance. The World Health Organization has not been slow to recognize this fact, granting its patronage to an international consultative meeting of experts, held in Paris in June 1991, with the purpose of taking stock of the new diagnostic and therapeutic options, thus bearing witness to the renewed interest shown in BPH by scientific and industrial organizations: better understanding of its aetiology and pathogenesis and more specifically of its hormonal background, precise evaluation of its functional repercussions by means of urodynamics, specific analysis of prostatic structure by ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, developing of imaginative alternatives to surgery (prostatic stents, balloon dilatation, hyperthermia and heat therapy). New medical therapeutic approaches have alsó been contemplated, somé under assessment (5 alpha-reductase inhibitors, anti-aromatases), others with proven effectiveness such as alpha-blockers. All this may seem somewhat disturbing for urologists, but the interest it has generated explains the success of the session devoted to 'Non-surgical management of benign prostatic hyperplasia', held during the 22nd Congress of the Société Internationale d'Urologie (Seville, November 1991). In accordance with the new rules adopted by the General Assembly of our Society, it was the role of Professor John Fitzpatrick, Chairman of that session, to supervise and edit this monograph. He carried this out with diligence and competence and deserves our thanks, together with all those who collaborated in its production. By consulting this work, a great awareness may be gleaned of the spectacular evolution which is taking place in this essential field of our speciality. Urologists who until now had two options available for patient management, surgery or simple surveillance, now have the further possibility, in certain situations, of offering the patient other forms of treatment.