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

I haven't been to Portugal for PAE, but I tried to post the prices that Dr. Pisco sent me yesterday.  They are quite reasonable.  It is being moderated.  It is worth considering going to Portugal to have it done considering the prices by someone that has done 750+ PAEs.  

I did not go to Portugal; however, I spoke to Dr. Spies at Georgetown, who is involved in the NIH study and went to Portugal and Brazil to observe.  He told me that the Doctors in NC and VA are as good as the docs in Portugal and Brazil and the facilities in the US are significantly better.  Not to mention the hassle of int'l travel.  I had mine done in NC on 9/28, have had a bit of improvement so far and am looking forward to more!

Hi Arlington:  I am considerring having a PAE with Dr Issacson.  It is now 3 months since your PAE  and was  wondering about your results to date.  Thanks. Lenny 

Very little to no improvement for me after 13 weeks.  I may have been a tough case because i was on intermittent catheterization for about 1 year prior - after going in to acute retention due to antihistamines. I haven't given up on improvement yet - but have to start thinking about plan B! 

Lenny,

some me people have almost immediate success with PAE ( like me), some take a few months and some just don't respond. Much depends on what is really causing retention and glow issues. For me it apparently was primarily prostate size ( 128g, now down to 80g ). There can be many other factors such as bladder function or other urethra restrictions. If prostate size is the primary cause of symptoms then PAE will definitely improve. Unfortunately there seems to be no way to be sure except to try it. 

William:  Thanks for your response and sharing your experience.  Lenny 

Hi William,  Who was your doctor at UNC Chapel Hill?  I am considering PAE, because I just had my first experience of not being able to pee at all and had to get catheter (still in after 2 weeks).  I have similar size prostate as you.  And expect to get some kind of treatment within the next 3 weeks, so please advise, asap. Thank you!

Greg,

Dr Isaacson did my PAE at UNC. He is wonderful. You can contact him thru their web site. Just google PAE and UNC and you will find a link to email him. If you send him your phone number, he will actually call you back. You could qualify for the clinical trial if you are interested and the whole thing will be free. I am scheduled for my one year follow up on April 1st and all is still wonderful in Pee Land.

 

Hi Greg.  I went in to acute retention and had to have a catheter in July 2014.  I made the mistake of waiting 2 1/2 months to learn how to self catheterize (CIC).  It's not as bad as it sounds and is infinitely better than the indwelling Foley.  I think that it also was not good for my prospects of getting off of a catheter completely - as the self cathing is much more natural and I think allows things to ultimatley function more naturally.  In my case, I had the PAE w/ Dr. Isaacson (who I think is great) at UNC on September 28, 2015 and it has unfortunately helped my situation very minimally - I am still having to self-catheterize and have also been unable to get off the alpha-blockers.   My guess is that if you begin self-catheterizing immediately and have the PAE soon thereafter your prospects will be much better that mine.  Good luck!

Thank you for replying so quickly and with this really useful information. I will contact him now.  And I will check out the clinical trial thing too!  I will let you know how it goes...

HI Arlington. This is good to know. I cringe at the whole idea of self catheter, because it was sooo rough and uncomfortable when I had it put in, especially the second time after I failed to pee.  But maybe, as you said, the self catheter thing isnt the same and not so bad...I just can't do it at the moment, I am in India for two more weeks, before I head home to the states.  But I am definitely going to check it out, incase I have to get it back in for a bit after the PAE...  Thank you so much! - Greg

Yes I would definitely set up an appointment now to learn to self-cath as soon as you get back.  I had the same misgivings, but, amazingly, because you are controlling it, the pain is really very minimal compared to when they do it to you. It took me 2 1/2 months to wrap my head around the idea but I immediately wished I had done it in the beginning - i think it would mean an improved situation for me now.  (Something seemingly very unusual done often enough becomes much more normal and comfortable!)  It is also much healthier and gives your body a natural chance to function in between.  The best catheter I've found is the Bard Magic3  14French(size) w/ coude tip.  

Greg,

you our are welcome. I encourage anyone with BPH symptoms to consider PAE. It has been life changing for me. I had to get a catheter in the emergency room several months before my PAE. I vowed never to have to go there again so I made sure my Urologist supplied me with and trained me  on self catheters. While they were not pleasant, they were definitely not as bad as getting one in the emergency room. Mainly because you will use the self cath before the pressure builds up too bad.

since the PAE I have taken no medicines and have never had to self cath. I just don't think about peeing anymore.

Good Luck..

I am really encouraged by this, thanks William.  I am checking with UNC and Dr. Isaacson now. My daughter and her husband happen to work at UNC Chapel HIll (!) so it would be incredibly fortunate if it worked out.  Do you know how many of these surgeries Dr. Isaacson has performed to date, roughly?  I understand that this procedure began about 6 years ago world-wide.  Any research studies on the results after say a 2-3 year follow up?  I haven't found but one early study so far...  

Greg,

I am not aware of any long term studies at this point. I just know my one year has been great. Also not sure how many Dr Isaccson has performed, but I do believe he is very competent and a leader in his field. Also the staff at UNC were all great to work with.

Hi William,  I just found this 2014 study on the results of PAE, the most comprehensive I have seen so far.  Maybe this will be useful to others.  http://www.scvir.org/clinical/cpg/SIR_Pos_Statmt_PAE_Benign_dis_Prostate.pdf

 

If you go to pubmed web page and search the term prostatic artery embolization you will see a lot of studies. This is a national institute of health website so it looks like  a good source for actual scientific studies rather than personal experiences, or glowing statements from facilities performing the procedure..

PAE results studies I have seen there have cited 20-25% reduction of the prostate in 6 months and two year longevity with additional shrinkage up to 33% to 40% total. I didn't see any studies tracking  patients more than two years as of yet.

Bilateral procedures (both left and right arteries) seem to have slightly better results than one sided procedures. The patients with the largest sized prostates got the most relief and largest changes.

About 10% of patients are unsuccessful. Some prospective patients are not qualified for treatment due to "torturous" (I guess this means too twisted) arteries.

I was considering pae to keep my prostate from regrowing but the dutasteride (generic avodart) studies on that site also show similar results of 25% shrinkage that continues up to the 2 years reported. So for now I'm just taking the dutasteride. I think the dutasteride does basically the same thing as the PAE, it blocks the converion of testosterone to DHT which is believed to flood the prostate, causing bph and prostate enlargement. If the dutasteride proves not to work for me, or if beocmes problematic in terms of side effects, I will probably go back to considering the PAE. If it continues to work with no side effects I probably will take it for life. The only reason I got my turps was because after 3 months, flomax no longer worked.

Thanks for the useful information, Bob. One question; I thought PAE blocked blood flow to reduce the prostate size, not block the conversion of testosterone to DHT.  Can you clarify?

Heya William, I gotta chime and say the same thing contact Dr Isaacson as soon as possible.  I had my PAE done 3 weeks ago today, and even tho I have had some minor problems I can stil pee so much better than before. And I just can not say enough about the professionalism of Dr Isaacson and his staff. I emailed hom yesterdat and he answered back within 10 minutes and phoned in a script for some antibiotics. You absolutely will not find better care anywhere. 

Good luck, and do not wait.

 

Greg, you are correct. With PAE the loss of blood flow causes the prostate tissue to die. With the avodart the dht that inflames the prostate and causes it to grow is removed. I'm not really certain how stopping the dht causes the prostate to shrink rather than just keep it from growing. I would be curious to know the actual method of the shrinking. But the odd thing is that the 6 months and two year results seem very similar.

I think he's approaching 100 or so.  I think that they've looked out as far as four years and the benefits have held up.  Dr. Isacson is great and has performed the second most outside of Brazil and Portugal.

Thanks Arlington.  Being able to talk with you, William, Bob and read the comments in this forum are so incredibly useful to me as I think through what is best to do.  Thank you for taking the time to respond so generously, I feel very grateful to you and the others here!  I will keep you all updated on what I learn and do as well. 

Thanks Greg.  Best of luck!

Thanks for the study.  According to Bagla,  the procedure has improved since 2014.  

Arlington, Bob, and William,  I want to thank each of you, and others in this forum for your incredibly useful help.  As a result, i have decided to get the PAE with Dr. Issaacson at UNC, and go into surgery tomorrow (I flew here from India where I left my fellowship to get this done). I was catheterized on Feb 1 due to first time ever completely unable to pee. (my pee went on strike I guess     I will let you all know how it goes.  As you all said, Dr. Isaacson has been immediately responsive from the beginning,  He has done 76 of these, I think I will be #77.

Greg,

awesome!!  I wish you the best of luck with your PAE. I go back to see Dr Isaacson in April for my one year follow up. I hope you have as good of results as I have had.

 

I also wish you the best of luck with your PAE. 

Bob

Oops, I replied to William instead of you Greg. Let me repeat, I wish you the best of luck with your PAE!

HI William, Bob and ARlington 

 

I wanted to let you all know that I got the catheter out today and peed “great” the doctor said. Operation declared a success!  This would never have happened without this forum and your support, advice and research links!  Thank you hugely for taking the time to do this and answer questions and post your experiences.  I feel so fortunate to have done this instead of some other operation, like TURP.  And to add a cherry on top, I got the results today, on my birthday the best present ever!

Happy birthday Greg. 

I'm very pleased for you. 

Fantastic Greg!  Here's to continued success.

Happy Birthday!

Fantastic Greg!  Here's to continued success.

Happy Birthday!

Great news Greg! There can always be setbacks, and I believe PAE takes time to shrink the prostate, weeks, even 3-4 months, but hopefully it all works out well. It has to be better than my first prostate effort, with Greenlight (I call it "red light"!). I had the procedure, the doctor left the hospital and went to another one. I couldn't pee and the nurses could not get a catheter up so I was heading toward danger zone. I had to drive myself to the other hospital. It was a very unpleasant experience. I am glad you could relive yourself. Hopefully that is a sign of good things to come!

Hye greg,

Glad for your results and wish you great improvement in the months to come. 

I had the pre-op MRI etc done last week in sydney, and was told improvements can continue upto 8 months as per their records so far.

I am due for a PAE on the 29th March in Sydney, got given a date just today. 

It's great to hear about your results, 

Cheers

Rama

 

Hi Rama, that is good to know that the improvements can keep coming months later.  

Good luck on the 29th, I will look forward to hearing how it goes!  From the research I have reviewed, and judging by comments in this fantastic and informative forum, the outcomes are very, very encouraging.  It really has helped me to stay positive during such a challenging time. 

 

Happy Birthday Greg,

here's you continued success. April 1st will be my one year anniversary of having my PAE by Dr Isaacson. I go back for my final follow up as part of the clinical trial on March 28th. I can still say that this was absolutely the best decision I have ever made. Life is great and I still just don't think about peeing at all anymore.

That is wonderful, William.  I know what you mean about feeling so good about the decision to do this, and your results are so great.  I too, feel ecstatic about having to pee now. Sure helps give a new perspective to life and the daily things to be grateful for.  And Dr. Isaacson is such a good communicator and the seems so skilled, by the results he is getting, it seems. 

Hi Greg, Peter and others,

THE PAE for me at Liverpool (Sydney) went just as expected yesterday, no issues, pain-free even the artery punch gave me no pain once the local anaesthetic wore off. Doc Schalphof and his team are aboslutely A-Grade professionals, he is a true doctor, hard to find these days.

I'll spend the next 5 days in Sydney, mostly resting and keeping an eye on things.

I can't say any improvments so far, but I didn't expect any from Day 1. All trips to loo were painful today as I skipped Tamsulosin one day, so popped one now, reasong being kidney protection, just avoiding a repeat of the kdineys dropping down to low filtration months ago when my prostate deteriorated rather rapidly causing stage 3 kidney levels.

I await symptom improvement, so will skip the pill every now and then to signs of improvement.

Cheers

Rama

 

Hello Rama,

Congratulations , expect progress soon.

It took me 3days to be sure of being confident about being back to normal.

Sam,

Thanks for the encouragement. 

Interestingly, no catheter was used, as they are refining the proccudre and reducing all steps to bare minimal to minimise discomfort.

I did feel slight pain and tension in the prostate area all day after the op yesterday, I sense changes are occurring. Part of my problem is not getting enough sleep 2 nights before and yesterday, so working on that.

 

Hi Rama,  Such great news, congratulations!  Expect your pee stream to continue to improve.  As I may have mentioned, my doc says improvements continue for the first 4-5 months in pee stream, and I am 5 weeks since my surgery and each week it seems a little better.  And I was totally happy with it after just 2 weeks so its all icing on the cake now.  Because they kept the catheter in for the first two weeks after surgery, I am not sure what things would have been like in the first two weeks.  So I would suggest just giving things some time to shrink and heal..  And I was not given Tamsulosin.  I am just finishing up doxazosin, which I was started on when I first couldnt pee at all (provoking the need  for intervention).  I wish you well!

 

Hi Greg,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Great to know that you continued to  imporve while taking doxazosin, which is als an alpha-blocker. I was wondering if taking one may interefere with shrinking of the prostate. 

Are you gradually reducing the dosage with doxazosin ? Sorry about the dumb question, how do you make out that the improvement is from the intervention and not from cobtinued doxazosin.

I wish your improvement continues. As per Dr Catt at Liverpool, some patients have reported improving flow right upto month 8 after intervention.

 

Today was Day 5 post-PAE for me.

So far no signs of any improvments wrt symptoms.

So the embolisation blocks blood supply to the prostate, causing something like tissue death leading to reduction in size. How late can the response be ? I was given a brief explanation of the variation in start of imporvemnent for different individuals. Prostate having soft tissue around urethra will start shrinking and widening the urethra earlier than a gland with harder tissue in that region. 

Anyone out there who started experiencing improvment post PAE after some weeks or months ?

 

Hi Rama,

Glad your procedure went well. All the studies I have read on PAE show the maximum reduction of the prostate size occur in the period from one to three months after the procedure.

 

bob,

My prostate shrunk from 130g to 87g in the first 3 months, then to 74g at the end of six months. About 44%. I am waiting on results from one year MRI to see what it is now.

Larry

Hi Larry,

Thanks so much for the info. I'm looking forward to hearing of your one year MRI results when you get them. This is quite encouraging. In May I'll get a sonogram and  I'll find out what 6 months of dutasteide has done, and I'll have the info to decide if I want to try the PAE and eliminate the dutasteride or continue on the dutasteride. If the dutasteride doesn't work the only options for me would be a PAE or removing the prostate. The PAE would seem to be a better first choice.

Bob

Bob,

I took Avodart and flomax for a year and they really messed up my sex life. Fortunately most of that has corrected after PAE , but I would caution you not to take Dutasteride for very long. It can cause retro grade ejaculation and a loss of libido.

I've been taking Dutasteride (generic Avodart) for about 4 months. Haven't noticed any difference in libido, but at 69 it's not too strong anyway, but it's still there. I think the Dutasteide has increased the size of my belly even though I haven't gained weight. Some people say it shrinks the member a bit and it's hard to tell wheter it did for me or it just is harder to see because of the larger belly, but it may be true. The last turp I had in April gave me retro, but that didn't bother me as the orgasms seemed the same to me. If I did go for the prostate removal there's a good chance of losing my sex life, which is why I'm considering PAE as an alternate to the dutasteride.

Hello William just wondering how long has is been since you had the procedure?

When did u start seeing results?

And most important any side effects

With intercourse ... I am going to get it done it 3 weeks..

Hi Victor,

   Where will you bring having it done? I'm scheduled for late March with Dr Bagla in VA.

Rich

West Virginia Alexandria hospital

Dr. Bagle use to work there.

Dr. Sterling will be performing the surgery

Victor, Rich, All...

There isa recent and informative thread tracking results from different procedures here:

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/bph-treatment-results-564488?page=0#2561255

PAE got an A+, B, and 2 F's. Not a big sample, but if memory serves me about the same ratio as I've read in this thread. 

With a 50-50 chance of what appears to be "great" versus "terrible" results (and I believe we've seen some retro orgasm here) my personal opinion going into this procedure, with these odds,  is not to just look at the Doctor performing it (I assume most of the procedures here have been performed by the same small group of experienced doctors) but to try and figure out in advance which group you might fit into. 

Recently, someone explained that the descrepency between the rates of success that the doctor's tell their patients, and those reported here, may have to do with both a short follow-up window which would then exclude people whose progress deteriorates after a few months, as well as confusion between "clinical" success and "symptomatic" success. A clinical success is where the operation went as planned but did not necessarily elminate the symptons. Of course the only meaningful figure we should be looking at is clinical success.

Don't want to seem negative on the procedure at all, but just want to point out that the success rates are the same as flipping a coin. My personal feeling on this is that it has to do less with the procedure or doctor and more with the varied individual architectures of the prostate and bladder. With the prostate, this could be a large median lobe. With the bladder, it could be a stretched, atonic bladder. Either of these condition suggest a less than optimal outcome. 

So, if it were me, I would press whoever is performing the procedure, for more realistic *symptomatic* outcomes based on the condition of my individual bladder and prostate, as opposed to figures stated in the studies. If in doubt, urodynamic testing might also make sense as one other indicator of whether or not the bladder has enough tone and detrussor strengh to overcome even a diminished prostate from PAE, or any prostate reduction procedure for that matter.

Jim

Jim,

Very insightful, as usual. As you know, I have had 2 PAES with limited success. I was never asked about previous testing, except 3T MRI. I now think that type of analysis is obviously required. Before, I just thought they knew what they were doing. Now, I'm not sure that some of the IRs have a good idea about these other factors.

Neal

Neil,

If the IRs are going to start "curing" BPH/ LUTS, you would think they would take the time to study the dynamics of the system a little bit more. Then again, many urologists seem to do the same. 

Jim

I agree with what you say I think I am going to press for more information I think I have to determine what the lobe size is.

I think my Blatter is ok because I only have been suffering from BPH for 2 years not very long and l never had to do a any type of Catheterization. But still better to check for everything and be sure before I proceed. I appreciate the input Jim.

Hey Neal. sorry to hear you did not have good luck with the second PAE either. After my failed PAE, my  Doc recommended a seconf one for me also. Really glad now that I opted not to. And Jimjames makes a very good point also.When I had problems from mine, the PAE doc really didnt seem to know what to do at all. And of course a Uro has ZERO interest in helping once you have had a PAE done. Luckily I have had a great and understanding GP Doc, Honeslly had it not ben for him, theres no doubt I would have lost my prostate by now.

 

All the procedures do well with retention, unless there are bladder problems. I think the nocturia issues are less successful. It seems all the doctors with procedures for LUTS/BPH take a one size fits all approach. What we see on these forums is that one size doesn't fit all. But I thin that is true with every type of chronic illness. Medecine is good for emergency and trauma care, but often doesn't do well with chronic illnesses, either figuring out the cause or treating them. They can treat the symptoms but often cannot provide a lasting cure.

Bob,

Unfortunately, bladder problems and retention often go hand in hand. 

As to nocturia, there are two primary causes. One is urine retention and the other is fluid retention often associated with getting older and other things. The former can be helped by a successful surgery or procedure, the latter probably will not be. That's why we see so much nocuturia here regardless of the procedure and other results.

In total agreement with the "one size doesn't fit all'. In many case the doctors are either under trained, lazy, overworked, ill informed, greedy, or some combination. 

I remember marveling at how the TV Dr. House would have his team spend hours and even days analyzing and diagnosing a patient. I find that the average urologist seems has an attention span of about 2 minutes, if that, before he interrupts what I'm telling him. 

Jim

Hi Jim and Joe,

I guess that's the point of all this discussion. More and much better research and diagnosis need to be done. I have training in research design, and most of these folks don't seem to have a clue. Sample sizes are too small, and there don't seem to be adequate controls in place, such as making sure what is causing each man's problem so that they can tease out the effects of the various treatments, if any, on that type of problem. Most of these folks are trained to be doctors, not researchers.

Neal

Jim I agree with your analysis. It just makes logical sense that and proved out in my recent FLA procedure. the difference was they could map out how and what to remove tissue and then see that removal as they were preforming it with the MRI and computer. I am two months post op and everything is back like in my 40's. I know of several other fla's that have been done sense mine was done but I do not yet know the results. One man doing it had 2 PAE's before his recent FLA. His results from the PAE's were random. I am waiting to hear and praying for him.

Hi John,

Not sure if which "analysis" your're agreeing with, but I'll go with my post to "victor, rich, all" that contains the link to the "bph treament results" thread. 

The point there was that regardless of the procedure -- be it TURP, PAE, or in your case FLA -- outcomes can sometimes be more dependent on the condition of the bladder than the individual procedure. 

That said, if history, observation and testing (such as urodynamics) show that the bladder is elastic enough for a successful procedure, I do think FLA has the potential to be the gold standard in prostate reduction procedures for the reasons you gave. 

It would be great if you could somehow find out/contact the other men who had FLA and either report back or have them report back their results.  

Even if the results are not as dramatic as yours, the fault wouldn't necessarily be on the procedure, again it could be with the pre-existing conditon of the bladder. 

Jim

 

Yep that is the one, and I can explain I was the person who you heard from the clinical versus symptom success theroy. I got this idea from face to face conversations with both Bagla and Isaacson. The two leading PAE Doctors in the US. The question was ask why their numbers were so different. Bagla's explaination was that he is very selective in patient selection as to who he will preform the procedure on in an effort to improve his success numbers. Isaacson's quote on success was in the mid to high 70's. He said the difference was in the eyes of the beholder and that some success numbers were more broadly quoted as they were clinical success number and not symptomatic success numbers. i will as he did, let you derive from that what you will in definition. My question to both the PAE doctors was why do the success number between the two most experienced PAE doctors vary by some 15%.

By the way, I am now back as I found 138 Patient emails in my SPAM file and fixed the issue. Don't know how or why it happened but I am now back on line with Patient.info.

My FLA procedure has been Nothing short of remarkable. I am very pleased. My chioice added up to the fact that I wanted the pin point accurace of the laser with realtime vision of the ablation during the procedure. My two IR doctors I worked with in my FLA understand all the dynamics of the gland, all the componets, the bladder and the kidneys. This is why I ask them to show me on the MRI percisely how this procedure would be done using my MRI and where the laser would enter and what would be removed. This was confirmed both before and after the procedure. I also chose this FLA procedure over because this procedure does not enter my urethra and therefore causes no damage.  

My Nocturia has gone from an average of eight times a night to now 1 or somtimes 2 depending on what I drink in the later times. My volume is 400 to 500 cc each urination, up from 150cc. My flow is back like it was when I was in my 40's. My sexual situation including my ejaculation improved drastically. My results were not immediate but they came within a month. It actually got better slowly every day and then in one day everything changed for the best results I could have imagined. 

John 

Yes Neal you are correct to be sure, But I also think they do not want to hear from the failures. I know they called me every couple months to see how I was progressing, but once it was clear my PAE was a failure, I never heard from them again. So I am guessing they only want to count the wins, and not get accurate data. Just my opinion.

John: My question to both the PAE doctors was why do the success number between the two most experienced PAE doctors vary by some 15%.------------

I would venture it's that their screening criteria differs somewhat and/or they each grade "success" a little different. Also, given that some here report initial success and then a reversal, how and when they follow up post procedure may also be different. A lot of times people simply don't go back or even inform the doctor when a procedure fails, they just move on. I can't remember a doctor ever calling me and asking, "so, still good". 

Jim

Hello John can you explain, does the FLA

procedure shrink the prostate as well or are they just oblating the obstructions?

Please give me a little more detail..

I like the fact of not having pellets in my prostate for the rest of my life and Percision is what I like especially when working around that area!! I am 52 and enjoy my wife I really want to keep that part of my life.. thanks for the input my friend.

Hi Joe,

I agree with you. It's only human, but it's bad medicine.

Neal

Hi, Neal,

Sorry to hear that your 2nd PAE did not improve your situation much. I went for PAE last June, knowing my results wouldn't be the best as I had a large median lobe. Had mine done with Dr. Nutting in Denver, and he thought my large median lobe wouldn't be an issue. I knew better from reading on these forum threads. The best I hoped for was to stop my prostate's growth and to make self catheterization easier. It has done both.

Nutting has done a good job of following up, and I have sent monthly reports to Nutting and his nurse. Had a 2nd CT scan done about 5 months after my PAE, and it showed little change in my prostate size. Couldn't naturally void prior to PAE, but I can now void between 100 ml and 200 ml. I sent a copy of the scan to Nutting, and he called a month later to check on my progress since seeing my 2nd scan. He couldn't explain why I could naturally void now. I asked if I should consider a 2nd PAE, and he said no.

Interesting that this week I had bladder stones removed. My median lobe presses into the base of my bladder, making it difficult to get at the stones. The uro removing the stones thought she'd have to go through my abdomen to access them. She used a camera to look into my bladder and saw she could remove the stones via my urethra. She told me the PAE must have reduced a part of my median lobe, which gave her easier access to the stones. That may be another benefit I received from PAE.

I think the best treatment I've done for BPH so far has been CIC.

Stebrunner

 

Interesting. I also had a large median lobe protruding into the bladder. On the sonogram it looked like it took up about 15% of the bladder. I also had bladder stones removed. The urologist said they looked like a bunch of bb's. I wonder if the median lobe protruding into the bladder caused the stones to form and accumulate?

Hi Stebrunner,

Thanks for the interesting information. You may be like me and have a few extra blood vessels that the IR missed. Who knows?