Introduction of Rezum system technology to Ireland for treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia: a pilot study on early outcomes and procedure cost analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Rezum technology uses heat from radiofrequency-generated water vapour to ablate prostate tissue. We evaluate the introduction of this thermal therapy to an Irish teaching hospital for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms related to benign prostatic hyperplasia. METHODS: A pilot study of men with moderate to severe lower urinary tract symptoms who underwent Rezum treatment to the prostate was performed. Perioperative efficacy was evaluated using international prostate symptom score (IPSS), quality of life score (IPSS-QOL), uroflowmetry and post-void residual (PVR) volumes. Costs were evaluated and compared against matched patients undergoing the standard of care, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). RESULT: Ten patients with a mean age of 70 ± 9 years who met the inclusion criteria underwent Rezum treatment. Mean PSA was 4.73 ± 4 ng/mL and mean prostate volume 72 ± 30 cc. Rezum therapy significantly improved both IPSS by 74% from mean baseline score of 20.8 ± 4 to 5.3 ± 1.49 (p < 0.001) and IPSS-QOL score by 84% from mean baseline score of 4.4 ± 0.7 to 0.6 ± 0.7 (p < 0.001) at 3 months. Maximum flow rate increase by 44% from 9.26 ± 2.5 to 13.34 ± 2.3 mL/s (p < 0.001). When compared to ten matched patients undergoing TURP in the same period, there was a significant cost saving of €1986.52 per patient for Rezum, overall up-front cost saving of €22,819 with an additional 19 bed days and 5 theatre hours spared. CONCLUSION: Rezum, a minimally invasive thermal therapy, provides significantly improved symptom relief and quality of life with a significant cost saving to the institution.

Is Movember synonymous with moustaches or men's health? An examination of internet search activity for prostate and testicular cancer during the campaign.

BACKGROUND: The Movember campaign encourages men to grow a moustache during the month of November. The campaign's aims include promotion of prostate and testicular cancer awareness. AIMS: To examine the effectiveness of the Movember campaign at generating awareness of prostate and testicular cancers by examining Internet search activity. METHODS: Google Trends was used to review weekly Internet search activity from January 2004 to December 2015. We reviewed search activity for the search terms "prostate cancer", "testicular cancer", "Movember" and "moustache". The weeks in November from 2004 to 2015 were examined for changes in search activity for our chosen search terms, which could be attributed to the annual Movember campaign. Search activity was recorded weekly and scored from 0 to 100 with 100 representing peak search activity. RESULTS: Mean search activity for each term during the weeks of Movember campaign. However, throughout the 11 years assessed, only the term "moustache" was consistently statistically associated with increasing publicity for the Movember campaign. Cancer awareness was inconsistent. Testicular cancer shows a significant association in only one of the 11 years and prostate cancer in only 2 years. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the Movember campaign is consistently linked in the public consciousness with novelty facial hair and only weakly associated with an awareness of prostate and testicular cancers. Whilst the funding generated by the campaign should be commended, more could be done to link the campaign and moustaches to awareness of common male cancers.