[Use of UroLume as an alternative to the treatment of recurrent stenosis of bulbar urethra and obstructive prostatic hyperplasia in patients with high surgical risk].

This device consists of a woven in a form of a tubular mesh, made up for the use in the urethra. We report the clinical and uroflujometric results in 10 patients with urethral stricture and 4 with obstructive prostatic hyperplasia. The study includes a 7 year period since October of 1993 up until June 2000. All patients were evaluated pre and post stent insertion with periodic follow ups to assess the prostatic symptoms score, quality of life assessment, peak urinary flow rate, mean flow rate and post-void residual urine volume. The results were the following: For the group with urethral stricture the I-PSS decreased from 26.8 to 5.4 points, the peak flow rate increased from 8.24 to 16.12 mL/sec and the post-void residual urine volume decreased from 42.7 to 31.6 mL. By 12-month follow-up most endoprostheses were 90% covered with urothelium, only one of these patients required stent extraction with no sphincter lesion. For the prosthatic hyperplasia group the I-PSS decreased from 20.2 to 8 points. The peak flow rate increased from 6.95 to 14.5 mL/sec and the post-void residual urine volume decreased from 49 to 18.3 mL. By 12-month follow-up two patients were 95% covered with epithelium, and the other two were 70%. There have not been significant problems related to infections, migration, incontinence or erectile disfunction. An 80% of patients have shown some irritative symptoms (urgency, frequency or dysuria) at least during the first month after stent insertion. These 7 year results suggest that Urolume urethral endoprostheses can be a long-term effective treatment alternative to these patients.