Search

The pathogenesis of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is multifactorial, making its treatment difficult. Multimodal therapy including α-adrenergic antagonists (α-blockers), anti-inflammatory agents, and other pain treatments may provide optimal management for CP/CPPS. Although α-blockers are the most prescribed drugs for patients with CP/CPPS, not all studies support their efficacy. A recent meta-analysis of small trials suggested that treatment with α-blockers, possibly in combination with antibacterial agents, is efficacious in relieving symptoms. Third-generation α1A blockers (silodosin, tamsulosin) may provide efficacy as well as reduced cardiovascular side effects. Future research should aim to identify potential biomarkers associated with treatment response.

A pharmaceutical company-sponsored post-registration clinical trial designed to determine the most effective dose of pentosan polysulfate for the treatment of interstitial cystitis (IC) reported negative results. However, because of a priori trial design features, important posthoc analyses were able to answer many of the important clinical issues on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of IC that to date had remained unanswered. Seven published follow-up reports based on data and outcomes from the original study evaluated the clinical significance of a positive Potassium Sensitivity Test, confirmed the O'Leary-Sant Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index as a valid and sensitive outcome measure, and determined that doses of pentosan polysulfate higher than the standard US Food and Drug Administration-approved dose of 300 mg/d did not increase efficacy although increased duration of therapy increases the chance of symptom amelioration. Further analyses determined that sexual dysfunction is an important parameter to assess in IC and that successful therapy can improve sexual functioning. Finally, the data showed that symptom severity, quality of life (QoL), and sleep function are interrelated. Consequently, symptom improvement with therapy correlates with improvement in both sleep function and QoL. This post hoc forensic dissection of a clinical trial initially undertaken for simple regulatory reasons has significantly improved our understanding and management of the enigmatic condition we call IC.

Prostatitis is a common medical diagnosis. The etiology of this symptomatic syndrome can be an acute or chronic bacterial infection, a noninfectious initiator (the most common cause), or iatrogenic heat or radiation; the syndrome may coexist with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Alpha-blockers have a role in the treatment of the prostatitis syndromes. In Category I, acute bacterial prostatitis, alpha-blockers have been shown to possibly ameliorate obstructive and irritative voiding symptoms. In Category II, chronic bacterial prostatitis, alpha-blockers seem to reduce the risk of clinical and bacteriological recurrence. In Category III, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, alpha-blockers improve symptoms and quality of life. Alpha-blockers also seem to ameliorate the symptoms and reduce the risk of acute urinary retention in patients who suffer from either heat- or radiation-induced prostatic inflammation. Alpha-blockers improve lower urinary tract symptoms, including pain, in patients who are diagnosed with both prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Evidence has proven there is definitely a role for alpha-blockers in the management of the prostatitis syndromes.

Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a major healthcare concern for premenopausal, healthy, sexually active women. A practical approach to the management and prevention of recurrent UTIs should be simple, practical, and cost effective. Low-dose or postcoital antimicrobial therapy can be effective for women with constellations of many recurrent UTIs, but for women with 2 to 4 UTIs per year, the most cost-effective and empowering management strategy is patient-initiated antimicrobial treatment.

The prostatitis syndromes are among the most common and frustrating clinical challenges for urologists in outpatient practice. Available treatment, especially for the chronic prostatitis syndromes, is poor, with no standard therapy producing significant cure rates. alpha-Blocker therapy has been advocated (with various levels of evidence) as a treatment modality for all categories of the prostatitis syndromes. This article reviews the evidence supporting the use of alpha-blocker therapy in patients with prostatitis. Further trials of longer duration, perhaps employing combination therapies, are indicated to better evaluate the role of alpha-blockers in the management of the prostatitis syndromes.

Finasteride selectively inhibits the Type 2 isoenzyme of 5alpha-reductase (5AR) (the enzyme responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone [DHT]) whereas dutasteride inhibits both Type 1 and Type 2 5AR. General conclusions regarding the differences and similarities of these 2 agents, in terms of pharmacologic effect, safety, and efficacy, can be drawn from evaluation of short-term comparative trials and similar but non-comparative long-term trials. Dutasteride therapy reduces serum DHT significantly more than does finasteride. In men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), treatment with either agent results in similar prostate gland volume reduction, flow rate and symptom improvement, and similar reductions in long-term risk of BPH development in terms of symptom progression and acute urinary retention (AUR) and BPH-related surgery. There does not appear to be any clinically significant difference between the adverse event profiles of dutasteride and finasteride. Although weak evidence suggests a difference in the onset of clinical benefit, the available non-comparative trial data do not confirm this finding. Patients with symptomatic BPH who receive dutasteride or finasteride, either as monotherapy or combination therapy with alpha-blockers, can expect to experience significant prostate gland size reduction, improved symptoms, and reduced risk of progression in terms of long-term adverse outcomes.

Many patients with unilateral or bilateral testicular, epididymal, or scrotal pain as their sole presenting symptom receive a diagnosis of "chronic epididymitis." This common clinical entity is diagnosed and treated by practicing urologists but essentially ignored by academic urologists. This article defines chronic epididymitis, reviews current knowledge regarding its etiology, and describes appropriate physical examination and clinical testing for patients with the condition. The recently developed Chronic Epididymitis Symptom Index is presented, which can be used for baseline evaluation and follow-up of patients with chronic epididymitis, both in clinical practice and in research treatment trials. Treatment options, from watchful waiting to medical therapy to epididymectomy, are reviewed.

Recent studies and analyses have confirmed that baseline prostate volume is related to progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) as well as to negative outcomes related to BPH, such as acute urinary retention (AUR) and need for surgery, and can also predict response to therapy. Other investigations have determined that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level has good predictive value for assessing prostate volume. Strong evidence exists that baseline serum PSA level, like baseline prostate volume, predicts future prostate growth. Randomized placebo-controlled finasteride trials have shown that men with larger prostate volumes and higher PSA levels experience a clinically significant response to therapy compared with those with smaller prostate volumes and lower PSA levels. It has also been demonstrated that men with larger prostate glands and higher PSA levels are at increased risk for AUR and BPH-related surgery but that finasteride reduces these risks. Moreover, doxazosin and finasteride, alone and in combination, have been shown to significantly reduce BPH clinical progression.

The enigmatic urologic condition known as interstitial cystitis has an estimated prevalence of 0.01% to 0.50% of the female population. Its etiology is unknown but may involve microbiologic, immunologic, mucosal, neurogenic, and/or other, as yet undefined, agents. There is no gold standard for the diagnosis of interstitial cystitis; rather, it is a diagnosis of exclusion. It is impossible to provide a purely evidence-based treatment strategy, but review of available evidence suggests that conservative supportive therapy (including diet modification); oral treatment with pentosan polysulfate, amitriptyline, hydroxyzine, or cimetidine; and intravesical treatments with heparinoids, dimethyl sulfoxide, alkalized lidocaine, or bacille Calmette-Guérin may be effective in some patients.