Has anyone out there had a "Prostate Artery Embolization??

ok dont know where i heard that but do you know if dr sterling is qualified and or heard of him. he is the chair of that department i was told.

 I just called Bagla and will change from Stering to Bagla.

I could not find anything on Stering regarding his abilities and PAE.

​Thanks Lou

Are they doing clinical trials?

Great Post.  But, I'm confused RE your still needing "meds"? 

As far as I know this is not a trial, it's a regular proceedure for an Interventional Radiologist.

PAE blocks blood flow to parts of the prostate.  The prostate doesn't shrink away from the urinary tract immediately.  During the following months it decreases in size, so meds are still recommended for 3 to 6 months.  My improvement was so noticable during the first month that I wanted to 'jump the gun' and decrease meds right away.  So far (at two months) the result is great.

It's been 7 months since my PAE and I had a normal PSA result this week.  Was told no need to do PSA tests after age 70 (coming right up) because if you develop prostate cancer at that age, something else will kill you before you notice the cancer symptoms. (comforting thought!)  My urine flow is not as good as it was right after the PAE but it's acceptable.  I'm still taking the meds every other day.  Tried to drop meds completely but noticed a decrease in flow.  I may not be a good poster boy for PAE because I also have Allergic Rhinitis and have to take loratadine, guaifenesin, psuedoephedrine and budesonide to keep the sinus clear. Those are all hard on the prostate and probably contributed to my BPH over the years.  But life continues to be good and I enjoy every day while it lasts.

My urologist also jumped on the no PSA for old guys bandwagon. But I let my GP write the script for the test every 6 mnths or so. My PSA slowly grept up to 8.7 over the years, About a half point a year. I decided a PSA score of less than 10 is no cause for alarm as long as it doesn't jump up all at once. Also the pathology report on prostate tissue removed by a TURP 15 months ago, showed no cancer. I have never agreed to a biopsy after a PSA test. I see no reason not to get a PSA test, if just for my own peace of mind.

And even if the PSA value was a cause for concern at some point, the next step doesn't absolutely have to be a biopsy. You could have a 3T MRI of the prostate area that could give more info about whether a biopsy would be prudent.

Rich, agree

I would suggest you ask Dr. Isaacson. He is very good about returning calls and answering questions like that. Please let us know what he says.

Neal

Thanks Neal, will do I just hated to bother him if thst was normal. 

I had my PAE's in the fall of 2014 and 2015.  The first procedure resulted in a small amout of blood in the semen for about two weeks and then cleared up. It actually looked discolored more than red blood.   After the second procedure I had no bleeding at all.

Bruce,

WHy did you need two procedures? What were your results after each?

Thanks,

Bob

Thanks Bruce, I am 3 weeks out now and it is almost cleared up. But I developed a UTI so that probably prolonged it some. 

How come you had to have asecond procedure if you dont mind me asking?

Hi Bruce,

How did your second PAE go? I had one 9 months ago but I believe the large median loge made it not that effective.

Best.

Got significant improvement from the first, but a cystoscopy showed the prosatae was still blocking urine flow.  I elected to have a second and so far got a bit more improvement, but I am still taking .8mg of flowmax and I was hoping to get off the meds altogether.  I'll give it another couple of months and get scoped again to see if the prostate is still in the way.

Could be.  A cystosopy might reveal if the median lobe is actually in the way.  They run the scope all the way up the ureathra and into the bladder so you can visualize where the obstruction may be.  If the path is clear, then it may be the bladder neck that isn't releasing enough.  I suspect that may be my issue.  The first thing to do was get the prostate out of the way.  It's a bag, two valves and a hose.  If the prostate is no longer squeezing the hose and the bag(bladder) has enough pressure, then it most likely is one of the valves (Bladder neck before the prostate and the sphincter right after the prostate). 

Thanks Bruce do you know if the done both sides the first time, or just one? Just curious what they did the sexond time, that they didnt the first. Where did you have yours performed?

i got a lot of immediate relief for the first week or so, and then it has seemed to go back to the way it was. Im hoping in time it will improve.

Dr. Isaacson at UNC, who did mine told me that would happen, and it did to me too.That immediate improvement is caused by the prednisone that you get at surgery. It goes away within a few days of surgery, and so does that improvement. The real improvement, from the shrinking of the prostate can take something around 3 months. Don't panic yet.

Neal

Hi Neal, I didn't experience that. Lucky I gues. I had improvement from day 1 and it just got better from then on. 8 months later still improving. 

Thanks Neal, that makes me feel better. 

Hi Bruce,

Were you having to catheterize on a regular basis before your PAE or had you not descended to that point yet/

Thanks

That's great. I wish it had been the same for me.

Neal

They did both sides both times.  I had it don by Dr. Douglas Hadley at Kaiser in Oakland, CA.  Interesting observation was that post procedure in the hospital I had pretty good flow but it waned a day later.   It made me wonder if it were as a result of the opiate pain medication. 

I was soooooo close but no I didn't have to catheterize.

The same thing happended to me the first night - but then went back to usual bad.  Must have been the drugs.