Prognostic Value of the Urinary Nerve Growth Factor in the Patients With Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Persistent detrusor overactivity (DO) after transurethral prostatectomy results in symptomatic failure in more than one third of the patients. Storage symptoms are major complaints in the early postoperative period after Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP). Levels of the urinary nerve growth factor (NGF), produced by bladder urothelium and smooth muscle, are increased in the patients with overactive bladder (OAB), and decreased after the OAB symptoms were improved. Also, urinary NGF levels are increased in patients with benign prostatic obstruction (BPO), but the changes of the NGF levels after relief of the BPO by the medical or surgical treatment have not been fully investigated. If the elevated urinary NGF levels are reduced after successful surgical treatment of BPO, measurement of urinary NGF could be a useful objective tool to assess the therapeutic outcomes of the operation.

The aims of this study are to measure the urinary NGF levels in patients with BPO and to compare the results between the patients with detrusor overactivity (DO) and without detrusor overactivity (Non-DO), average 2 weeks before Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) procedure. After HoLEP, urinary NGF levels are rechecked at the periods of postoperative 3 months and 6 months, and compare changes between the two groups.