Aim:To examine the efficiency of α1-blocker treatment on disease-specific and generic quality of life (QOL) in men with clinically diagnosed benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), the improvement of QOL scores with International prostate symptom score (I-PSS) and Rand Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Health Survey (SF-36) was prospectively analyzed. Methods: A total of 68 newly diagnosed patients with symptomatic BPH that satisfied all inclusion and none of the exclusion criteria were prospectively recruited. All patients received 0.2 mg/day of tamsulosin for 12 weeks. All patients underwent pretreatment documentation of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and assessment of symptom-specific QOL. Symptoms and general health-related QOL (HRQOL) were assessed using the I-PSS and SF-36, respectively. Also, other objective variables, such as prostate volume, maximal urinary flow and postvoid residual urine volume, were evaluated. Results: After 12 weeks, decrease in I-PSS was 27% compared with baseline (from 16.4 ± 7.18 to 11.9 ± 7.56). All questionnaires in the I-PSS showed improvement after tamsulosin treatment and the I-PSS QOL score was improved from 4.51 ± 1.14 to 3.17 ± 1.38 (P < 0.0001) at 12 weeks after tamsulosin administration. In intragroup comparisons of HRQOL scores with agegender adjusted SF-36 Japanese national norms, three SF-36 subscales (bodily pain, BP; social function, SF; and mental health, MH) were worse in the BPH group aged over 70 years, while younger BPH groups aged <70 had better mean SF-36 physical function (PF) scores compared with age-gender adjusted Japanese national norms. In the BPH group with a prostatic volume ≥20 mL, three mean SF-36 scales (BP, SF and MH) were significantly improved after tamsulosin treatment. It is noteworthy that these SF-36 subscales were identical to those observed to worsen in the older BPH group compared to Japanese national norms. Conclusions: Treatment with tamsulosin for symptomatic BPH patients is associated with significant improvement in the generic HRQOL, in addition to disease-specific QOL and symptoms, at 3 months after drug administration. In particularly, for generic HRQOL with SF-36, tamsulosin treatment can efficiently improve three mean SF-36 subscales (BP, SF and MH) that are decreased in older BPH patients.Key words α1-blocker, benign prostatic hyperplasia, I-PSS, quality of life, SF-36 health survey.

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Objectives:  To investigate the benefit of α1‐adrenoceptor antagonist naftopidil on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH/LUTS). Methods:  A total of 99 men with BPH/LUTS were prospectively recruited. The Short Form‐8 (SF‐8) was used for generic QOL assessment and each parameter was compared with the norm in these patients. Longitudinal changes were evaluated using the SF‐8 and the International Prostatic Symptoms Score (I‐PSS) at baseline, 4 and 8 weeks after naftopidil administration. The relationship between SF‐8 and I‐PSS was analyzed. Results:  Five of eight components in the SF‐8 were significantly lower than the Japanese national norm at baseline. SF‐8 score was improved by naftopidil at 4 and 8 weeks in general health (GH) and physical component summary (PCS) in the patients in their 70s. Mental health (MH) and mental component summary (MCS) were improved at 8 weeks in patients in their 60s. When analyzing the whole cohort, SF‐8 GH, role emotional (RE) and MH had improved at 8 weeks, which was similar to the norm, and bodily pain (BP) results were better. Compared with the baseline, total I‐PSS, storage/voiding symptoms and QOL index scores improved significantly under naftopidil. Each component of I‐PSS (except for hesitancy) correlated with SF‐8 sub‐scales (except for BP) to some extent. Conclusions:  BPH/LUTS impairs generic QOL, which is improved by naftopidil treatment. SF‐8 can be a useful instrument to assess the efficacy of BPH/LUTS treatment because its simplicity to complete and analyze, and its meaningful relationship to I‐PSS.

Five novel mutations in the rBAT gene have been identified in Japanese patients with cystinuria. A racial difference was not apparent in the position and frequency of the mutations.

Recurrence of growth of urinary stone is frequently observed during the clinical course of cystinuria patients. The aim of the present study is to examine the long-term outcome of cystinuria in Japan and clarify the effects of medical treatment on urinary stone. Thirty-one patients with cystinuria who had been followed up longer than 6 months were included. The follow-up period was 6–264 months with a mean of 89.5 months. Stone event was defined as appearance of new stone or radiological evidence of stone growth. All patients were managed with forced hydration and urine alkalization. Twenty-eight patients were treated with administration of thiol such as D-penicillamine or α-mercaptopropionylglycine. Stone events per year ranged from 0 to 1.09 with a median of 0.09. Stone events per patient-year was 0.19 for all patients. The average urinary cystine concentration during treatment in the favorable outcome group (stone events per year < 0.3) was lower that that in the unfavorable outcome group (stone events per year ≥0.3); 221.2 ± 75.2 vs. 303.3 ± 93.5 mg/l, although the difference was not statistically significant. Prognosis of urinary stone in Japanese patients with cystinuria was relatively good with large variation. The medical treatment to reduce urinary cystine concentration would be useful for the management of cystinuria.