title: Does Baseline Prostate Volume Affect the Short-Term Outcome of Tamsulosin?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the short-term efficacy of tamsulosin treatment for patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) according to baseline prostate volume (PV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Tamsulosin, 0.2 mg/day, was prospectively given to 112 patients aged 50 years or older who had International Prostate Symptom Scores (IPSS) ≥ 8. The short-term efficacy was analyzed using the IPSS, quality of life (QOL) index, BPH problem index (BPI), maximum flow rate (Qmax ) and postvoid residual urine volume (PVR) at 4 weeks and 3 months after treatment considering the estimated PV at baseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 112 patients, 81 and 31 had PV of < 35 and ≥ 35 mL, respectively. The IPSS was significantly improved in patients with PV of < 35 mL (17.8 ± 5.9 at baseline, 13.5 ± 7.0 at 4 weeks, 11.9 ± 6.1 at 3 months) and in those with PV of ≥ 35 mL (17.4 ± 6.7 at baseline, 13.1 ± 7.0 at 4 weeks, 13.4 ± 6.2 at 3 months). There was no significant difference in the changes of the IPSS between the groups in a combined analysis model (P = 0.559). In addition, the model revealed no significant differences in changes in the QOL index, BPI, Qmax and PVR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The short-term efficacy of tamsulosin is observed irrespective of baseline PV. Thus, α1-blocker monotherapy should be considered for all patients with BPH/LUTS to rapidly relieve symptoms, although the long-term outcome is not promising for patients with a large PV at baseline.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masumori
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Taiji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Hokkaido Saiseikai Otaru Hospital, Otaru, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horita
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Hokkaido Social Insurance Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sunaoshi
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Hokkaido Prefectural Esahi Hospital, Esashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Yakumo General Hospital, Yakumo, Japan.
authors.forename: Koh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeyama
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Akabira City General Hospital, Akabira, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Muroran City General Hospital, Muroran, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miyao
keywords: alpha 1-blocker; benign prostatic hyperplasia; prostate volume; short-term outcome; tamsulosin