T05-O-19 The 'Apollo' tissue expander: a novel approach to penile shortening due to fibrosis

Purpose We report our initial experience with the Apollo tissue expander in the treatment of patients affected by severe penile shortening and erectile dysfunction due to La Peyronie's desease. Material and methods Eleven patients, with penile shortening and erectile dysfunction, due to IPP, were considered for Apollo tissue expander implantation from 2000 to December 2006. Apollo is a cylindrical-shaped tissue expander, which is inserted into the corpora cavernosa to obtain their lengthening, by a progressive expansion. Each expander has a rigid case containing an expansion camera, made of soft sylicone, that slides into the case, as a piston. The Apollo is placed with the same surgical procedure used for a non-inflatable penile prosthesis. Two weeks after surgery, the patients start the expansion cycle by injecting 2-3 ml of saline solution into an expansion camera. Results The mean operative time was 65 + 12 min. No complications occurred. All patients started expansions two weeks after surgery. The mean lenghtening of the penis was 4 cm. This results were obtained with a cycle of 6-8 expansions, twice-a-month. No patients reported sexual intercourses during this period. Once the maximum length has been obtained, Apollo was subsituted with an inflatable penile prosthesis in 3 cases and with a non-inflatable one in the other 8 cases. All patients completed at least an oneyear follow-up. All patients are satisfied with the final results. Conclusions Our experience shows that the Apollo tissue expander is a safe and efficacious device to treat penile shortening due to IPP, with high satisfaction rate.