title: Should being aged over 70 years hinder penile prosthesis implantation?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the satisfaction profiles following penile prosthesis surgery in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) in their seventh decade of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  In all, 174 patients received, for the first time, a penile prosthesis between 1990 and 2007 in our department. Among these, 35 patients were aged > or =70 years at prosthesis implantation. Of these, 18 patients were still alive at the time of follow-up. Using a telephone survey, patients were asked to answer the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS) as well as the International Index of Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF). Another question in the survey was developed by the authors based on a comprehensive review of the literature, which assessed the usefulness of the device for the patient and the degree of their usage. This was formulated as follows: How many times per 2 weeks do you have a sexual intercourse?
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all, 15 of 18 patients were either very or somewhat satisfied (83%). At follow-up 11 out of 15 (73%) patients were using their prosthesis regularly. The mean IIEF and EDITS scores were 21.80 and 75.20, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A penile prosthesis remains a highly promising treatment in older patients with a similar satisfaction rate to those published for younger patients. Thus, the motivation of the patient and not the age of the patient should be the main determinant factor in this surgical procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology and Paediatric Urology, Schleswig Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany. a.al-najar@uksh-kiel.de
authors.forename: Amr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Najar
authors.forename: Carsten Maik
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Naumann
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinbach-Jensch
authors.forename: Moritz Franz
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Hamann
authors.forename: Klaus-Peter
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Jünemann
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van der Horst