Doxazosin was well-tolerated and produced both urodynamic and symptomatic improvement in men with BPH, thereby providing a satisfactory alternative to existing drugs with the additional benefit of once daily dosage.

Although the PVR determined by TAUS may be useful to indicate aspects of bladder dysfunction or outlet obstruction, the wide variation in repeated measurements in the same individual limits its use for any clinical purpose that requires repeated assessment, e.g. in monitoring the response to treatment. There is poor test-retest reliability and PVRs cannot be determined reliably from a single measurement.

An expandable titanium intraprostatic stent was inserted into 30 patients with infravesical obstruction due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). All of the men were considered unsuitable for transurethral resection of the prostate as a result of comorbid conditions. In 25 patients effective micturition was reestablished with this technique. In 21 of these men, who have been followed for longer than 1 year, the mean maximum flow rate at 1 year was 10.8 ml. per second and the mean residual urine was 56 ml. Although urinary tract infections occurred subsequent to stent insertion in 10 individuals, these resolved after appropriate antibiotic treatment and no stents have had to be removed for this reason. Followup cystoscopy or examination by electron microscopy of those stents that have been removed has shown partial epithelialization of the stent surface in a proportion of patients, and a minor degree of incrustation occurred in 1 case. We conclude that an expandable intraprostatic titanium stent is an acceptable alternative to transurethral resection of the prostate or long-term catheterization in this particular group of high risk patients.

Biofilms were present on 16 of 33 urethral catheters examined. In 11 cases the catheter carried a different microbial flora from that of the bladder urine. The length of time the catheter was in situ did not influence biofilm formation, and all types of materials tested supported biofilm growth. Biofilms were seen on 2 of the 7 catheters where prophylactic antibiotics had been used.