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

hi I plan to get mine done there so kindly let me know how things go for you, good luck

Lou

Hi Jezzaman,

I had my PAE November 2104 and had very little discomfort.  Over the two weeks after the procedure, I had a tiny anount of bleeding during bowel movements and for three days, I had some discolorarion in seman.  other than that all returned to normal.  My results were good but not enough, ( apparently I had a BIG prostate) so I am having a second PAE this October.  I still have a prostate pushing up into the bladder neck.  Hopefully, this second try will bring it down in size enough to allow the bladder neck "valve" to open properly and I can get off the flowmax.

Thanks Bruce what size was your Prostate then originally?

Don't know.  They never gave me a number for the size, just the % reduction.

I had my PAE done April 1st 2015 at UNC Chapel Hill. Dr Isaacson was my Radiologist also. As stated he is great. My prostate was 128g with a protruding median lobe. My results have been nothing short of amazing. I never get up more than once a night, have no urgency, Good flow and no side effects. I never had any bleeding, no catheter required and only had minor burning for a few days. NO PAIN. I drink several cups of coffee at night and still have no issues. As I have stated before on this forum, I no longer think about peeing at all. It just happens. Best of all I participated in the clinical trial which is ongoing so my PAE was free.

 

Hi William,

I'm having my procedure w/ Dr. Isaacson next week.

Were you self-catheterizing before the procedure?

What were your before and after IPSS scores?

Thanks a lot!

Arlington,

i had had to self cath several times in the last few weeks before the procedure. My IPSS scores before were something like 25. A month after the procedure the scores were down to 2. PSA dropped from 22 to 1.9. Prostate shrunk 38%.

you will live Ari Isaacson. Tell him Larry from Atlanta said hello. I will see him Oct 6th for my 6 month follow up. BTW, I go by Larry, but my first name is William.

Scott and william,

Please keep the updates coming. I'm scheduled with him in early December.

Neal

Much appreciated, Larry. 

 

Good outcomes Neal.

I am not a doctor and I have no medical training and I do not want to build false hopes. One week after the procedure I noticed a feeling of well being with alot of energy and mental alertness. This morning I woke up and felt better than I have in 20 years. It is extreme. My hypothesis is the PAE has somehow increased my testostorone level. I base this on a)the way I feel and b)reports of increased sexual function from other men after PAE. I beleive if your young enough and your body is still producing testostorone, the procedure some how leads to increased testostorone level. For me this way more significant than my urinary improvement.

 

That's interesting William, I had PAE done Nov 2013 in the UK. Prostate 53g, possible median lobe issue but not definitely confirmed in cystoscopy before procedure. Seemed to me like about a 25% improvement in flow within 4 weeks after the procedure but the formal follow up flow test showed no improvement at all. Urologist said it must be because of the median lobe as PAE often does not work with that. Interestingly the prostate did indeed shrink to 38g. In the following months after the op my perception was that my flow went back to where it was before I had it done. Recent cystoscopy does confirm the median lobe but it's only quite a small one. Dissapointing that it didn't work well. I'm now trying to get Urolift but a median lobe is officially contraindicated with that too, although there is a Urolift practitioner in Australia who claims that he has treated median lobe patients very succesfully with Urolift.

Tim,

Since it is a relatively new procedure, they've probably improved thir skill/effectiveness significantly in the past 2 years - simply by virtue of the learning curve.

Hi Scott, 

not sure how PAE could increase testosterone but hey,,,if you feel great that's terrific. I was one of the ones who reported better sexual function. Fuller, thicker flaccid penis and better erections. Again, I'm not a doctor but my theory on that is that blood that was going to go to the prostate now finds its way to the penis instead. The only way you get a thicker penis is for more blood to be flowing there. That's my two cents worth. 

Tim,

sorry to to hear PAE did not work for you. Unfortunately there are so many things that can cause BPH symptoms. Sometimes one procedure will not wor, while another may. ChuckP who started the posting did not have successful results from PAE and later had good results with Urolift. Others have had problems with Urolift. Fortunately for most, especially for those with a very large prostate, the PAE procedure has been very successful. Be grateful that you did not get cut tip by a TURP and then not had results. At least with PAE , all other options are still available.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Neal

It could be that you are correct. I guess it's also possible that you are now getting much more uninterrupted sleep than you have in years. I am really looking forward to it !

Neal

I also had a marginal improvement with PAE in Nov 2104.  Glad to have the improvement even if it wasn't all I had hoped for.  I am having it done a second time in a few weeks and hope that I get some better results.

Hi Bruce,

Where did you have your first PAE done?  Are you having your second one done there or somewhere else?

Best of luck!

Kaiser in Oakland, CA. And yes, I am going to the same place and same Doctor.  I think I just had a big prostate.  The cyctoscopy I had in June 2015 showed it was still narrowing the urethra and the view from inside the bladder showed it was still pushing up into the bladder neck.  That's why I'm going for a second PAE to see if I can get additional reduction in size.

Sounds like a good plan.  Here's hoping for good results.

Hello TIm

Can I ask where you had the PAE done in UK as there are only a few places doing it to my knowledge?

thanks 

Jez

It has to do with a decrease in aromatase. Aromatase converts testosterone into estrogen. Aromatase exists in the stroma of the prostate.The fibromuscular stroma between the glands accounts for about half of the volume of the prostate. As the stroma shrinks, less aromatase and less conversion of testosterone to estrogen.

 

Thanks Scott. That is a much better explanation than the one I came up with. 

Hi William,

I'm wondering how long it took you to have significant improvement after the procedure and how long did it continue to improve?

Thanks a lot.

Arlington,

iI was very fortunate. I saw major improvement after a week. It continued to get better for the first three months then leveled off to just not being any problem anymore. I rarely get up at night at all. If I do it is only once for a good healthy pee then back to bed. If don't want to get up I can ignore it and go back to sleep and wait till morning. I am at 8 months now and it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I was fortunate to get it done for free as part of a clinical trial, but I would have gladly paid for the results that I have had.

i hope you will continue to improve. I have heard that sometimes it takes a while.

 

Thanks a lot.  I'm really glad you had such great improvemnt.  It's only been a little over 6 weeks for me.  Hopefully my concerns are premature  My situation was very similar to yours - except I had been self-cathing for 1 year prior.  Dr. Isaacson performed my procedure as well.