title: Evaluation of patient outcome after discontinuation of alfuzosin treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia: a multicentre, prospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess patient outcome after discontinuation of alfuzosin treatment in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 200 BPH patients. Alpha-blockers were discontinued after 12 weeks of treatment when the International Prostatic Symptom Score (IPSS) was reduced to < 8 points, peak urine flow rate (Q(max)) was increased to ≥ 15 ml/s, the postvoiding residual (PVR) urine volume was ≤ 100 ml and the patient agreed to discontinue treatment. Urinary symptoms of the patients were assessed at 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks after discontinuation of medication, and surveys were performed asking whether patients wanted to restart administration of medication.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 200 enrolled patients, 142 (71.00%) received 12 weeks of treatment with 10 mg of alfuzosin. The medication was discontinued in 58 of 142 patients (40.85%) because urinary symptoms had improved. Among these patients, follow-up observations were performed for 49 patients up to 24 weeks after treatment discontinued. Of these 49 patients, 28 (57.14%) showed correct urination without a need to restart treatment up to 24 weeks after the medication was discontinued. The discontinuation group demonstrated improved voiding symptoms, including Q(max) and PVR, relative to the re-administration group at baseline. Furthermore, the discontinuation group showed a smaller prostate volume than the re-administration group (p = 0.045).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When patients with BPH displayed symptomatic improvement upon treatment with alpha-blockers, the improvements were maintained in a select subpopulation of patients without the need to re-administer the alpha-blockers.
authors: Department of Urology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: J H
authors: JH
authors: Chung
authors: J Y
authors: JY
authors: Lee
authors: D H
authors: DH
authors: Kang
authors: J K
authors: JK
authors: Jo
authors: J W
authors: JW
authors: Lee
authors: S H
authors: SH
authors: Lee
authors: K S
authors: KS
authors: Lee
authors: T H
authors: TH
authors: Kim
authors: J H
authors: JH
authors: Han
authors: S W
authors: SW
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D058668:Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D059411:Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014563:Urodynamics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D058668:Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists; D011799:Quinazolines; C047638:alfuzosin