Penile lengthening with porcine small intestinal submucosa grafting in Peyronie's disease treatment: long-term surgical outcomes, patients' satisfaction and dissatisfaction predictors.

BACKGROUND: Peyronie's Disease (PD) is an acquired connective tissue disorder that often leads to penile curvature (PC) and sexual dysfunction. Penile lengthening procedures (PLP) with four-layered porcine small intestinal submucosa graft (Surgisis® ES; Cook) have been widely used in patients with severe PC when erectile function is preserved. However, complications such as erectile dysfunction (ED) may limit treatment satisfaction. OBJECTIVES: Focusing on patients perspective, our study aims to evaluate longterm patient-reported outcomes, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction predictors after PLP. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This prospective study included 32 patients affected by PD with severe PC submitted to PLP with Surgisis® ES between 2011 and 2014. All patients were submitted to a standardized protocol with regular clinical evaluation at 3, 6 and 12 months, and yearly thereafter. After the third year follow-up, IIEF-5, modified EDITS and an additional non-validated questionnaire were completed. RESULTS: Concerning the surgical procedure, the mean tunical defect area (TDA) was 15.9 ± 6.9 cm2 . The mean follow-up time were 49.6 ± 12.7 months and there was a significant increase in stretched penile length (p = 0.01). Postoperative erectile function as assessed by IIEF-5 was positively correlated with overall treatment satisfaction evaluated through EDITS (p = 0.01). TDA was negatively correlated with postoperative IIEF-5 (R = -0.56, p < 0.001). TDA ≥ 14.375 cm2 can predict ED with 76.9% sensibility and 58.3% specificity. Moreover, TDA ≥ 21.875 cm2 can predict clinically significant ED (IIEF-5 score ≤17) with 80% sensibility and 95.2% specificity. Patient-reported longterm complications were 65.6% decreased penile length, 56.5% diminished rigidity and 25% curvature recurrence. CONCLUSION: PLP using a Surgisis® ES is a valuable surgical option for the treatment of PD with severe PC. Although it results in high rates of long-term patient-reported overall satisfaction, possible outcomes such as postoperative ED must be acknowledged. TDA is a strong predictor for postoperative ED and should be considered in clinical practice to classify patients in low- or high-risk for postoperative ED.

Predictive factors of a successful testicular biopsy and subsequent clinical pregnancy.

Forecast of success with testicular sperm extraction and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) remains unknown, as predictive factors have rarely been studied. We evaluated the association among possible predictive factors and a successful biopsy and clinical pregnancy. A consecutive sample of men submitted to a testicular open biopsy in S. João Hospital was used. Patient's age, medical history, testicular volume, spermogram, genetic testing, endocrinologic results, biopsy results and clinical pregnancy information were collected. From the 113 men included, it was possible to retrieve spermatozoa in 79.6% of the cases, which resulted in 58 fertilisations and 22 clinical pregnancies. Retrieving viable spermatozoa on biopsy was associated with the identification of spermatozoa in the spermogram (100.0% versus 74.4%; P = 0.010), diseases causing obstructive infertility (100.0% versus 79.2%; P = 0.036) and no genetic causes detected (82.4% versus 54.5%; P = 0.030). Successful clinical pregnancy was only associated with lower female partner age (31.7 versus 36.0 year; P = 0.001) but not the quality of the spermatozoa or the time until the reproduction cycle. Identification of spermatozoa in the spermogram, diseases causing obstructive infertility and lack of genetic causes for infertility were associated with higher probability of viable spermatozoa retrieval but the female partner age remained the principal determinant of a successful pregnancy.