The Efficacy and Safety of 'Inverted Omega En-bloc' Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Size-Independent Technique for the Surgical Treatment of LUTS.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety, efficiency, and size-dependency of the 'Inverted omega En-bloc (Ʊ)' holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) in benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) with lower urinary tract symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 716 consecutive patients who underwent HoLEP under the care of a single surgeon from 2014-2021. These patients were treated using the 'Inverted omega En-bloc' HoLEP technique for BPH. The patients were divided into 3 groups: Group 1 (<40 mL, n=328), Group 2 (40-60 mL, n=221), and Group 3 (≤60 mL, n=167). Perioperative parameters, safety, and functional outcomes were assessed and analyzed. RESULTS: The perioperative parameters, like enucleation time (45.8±26.9 min), morcellation time (13.2±47.5 min), and catheterization duration (1.6±1.2 d) significantly differed to favor smaller prostate sizes (p<0.01). Significant improvements in the IPSS (total, voiding, storage, and quality of life), post-void residual urine, and maximum flow rate were observed 3 months post-HoLEP and continued during the 1-year follow-up period in all groups (p<0.01). The postoperative complications included urethral stricture in 11 patients (1.5%), bladder neck contracture in 12 (1.7%), urinary incontinence in 14 (2.0%), and bladder injuries in 4 (0.6%). Bladder neck contractures occurred only in Group 1. The postoperative surgical management for complications included urethral sounding (n=9, 1.3%), endoscopic internal urethrotomy (n=2, 0.3%), and re-HoLEP for bladder neck contractures in (n=12, 1.7%). The rate of re-HoLEP for regrowing adenomas was 15 (2.1%). Postoperative medications exceeding 6 months were α-blocker (n=22, 3.1%), cholinergics (n=16, 2.2%), anticholinergics (n=58, 8.1%), antidiuretics (n=18, 2.5%), and daily PDE5 inhibitor (n=38, 5.3%). Thirty-four patients (4.7%) had postoperative incidental prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The inverted omega En-bloc HoLEP technique is safe and effective for the treatment of BPH. Moreover, 'Inverted omega En-bloc' HoLEP is a size-independent and effective method for all prostate sizes.

Relationship between Hypogonadal Symptoms, Sexual Dysfunction and Chronic Prostatitis in Middle-Aged Men by Self-Reported Questionnaires, even without Biochemical Testosterone Deficiency.

PURPOSE: To investigate the association of erectile dysfunction (ED), premature ejaculation (PE), and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) in men with late-onset hypogonadism (LOH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the data of 408 enrolled men between January 2014 and January 2019. All participants completed the Androgen Deficiency in the Aging Male (ADAM), international index of erectile function-5 (IIEF-5), National Institutes of Health chronic prostatitis symptom index (NIH-CPSI), and premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT) questionnaires. Participants were divided by ADAM positive (ADAM+: Group 1) and ADAM negative (ADAM-: Group 2). RESULTS: Total of 289 subjects were in Group 1 and 119 were in Group 2. The mean age was 53.8±7.8 years. The mean total testosterone was 4.8±1.2 ng/dL and showed no differences between the groups (p=0.839). In Groups 1 and 2, ED (IIEF≤21) was identified in 233 (80.6%) versus 37 (31.1%), respectively (p<0.001). The prevalence of PE (PEDT≥9) was 112 (38.7%) versus 13 (10.9%) in Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). However, PE (intravaginal ejaculation latency time<5 minutes) showed no differences between the groups (p=0.863). The incidence of chronic prostatitis (NIH-CPSI pain score≥4) showed significant differences with 49 (17.0%) versus 8 (6.7%) in Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p=0.007). IIEF-5 total score showed the significantly highest negative correlation (r=-0.313, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Those who complained of LOH symptoms and positive results in the ADAM questionnaire need to be assessed concurrently with the above questionnaires. This could aid useful to detect of ED, PE, and chronic prostatitis co-occurrence.

Studies of singlet Rydberg series of LiH derived from Li(nl) + H(1s), with n ≤ 6 and l ≤ 4.

The 50 singlet states of LiH composed of 49 Rydberg states and one non-Rydberg ionic state derivable from Li(nl) + H(1s), with n ≤ 6 and l ≤ 4, are studied using the multi-reference configuration interaction method combined with the Stuttgart/Köln group's effective core potential/core polarization potential method. Basis functions that can yield energy levels up to the 6g orbital of Li have been developed, and they are used with a huge number of universal Kaufmann basis functions for Rydberg states. The systematics and regularities of the physical properties such as potential energies, quantum defects, permanent dipole moments, transition dipole moments, and nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements of the Rydberg series are studied. The behaviors of potential energy curves and quantum defect curves are explained using the Fermi approximation. The permanent dipole moments of the Rydberg series reveal that they are determined by the sizes of the Rydberg orbitals, which are proportional to n(2). Interesting mirror relationships of the dipole moments are observed between l-mixed Rydberg series, with the rule Δl = ±1, except for s-d mixing, which is also accompanied by n-mixing. The members of the l-mixed Rydberg series have dipole moments with opposite directions. The first derivatives of the dipole moment curves, which show the charge-transfer component, clearly show not only mirror relationships in terms of direction but also oscillations. The transition dipole moment matrix elements of the Rydberg series are determined by the small-r region, with two consequences. One is that the transition dipole moment matrix elements show n(-3/2) dependence. The other is that the magnitudes of the transition dipole moment matrix elements decrease rapidly as l increases.