Review: transurethral microwave thermotherapy in benign prostatic hyperplasia

Abstract

The transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) method combines the principles of microwave radiative heating and conductive cooling to destroy tissue within the prostate while preserving the other structures of the lower urinary tract. The method is effective in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), as demonstrated by laboratory and clinical studies. The ease of the 1-hour office treatment, the dramatic symptomatic improvement and reasonable uroflow rates that result, the preservation of sexual function, the apparent safety, and the durability of the result may mean that TUMT will introduce changes in the management of BPH as dramatic as those brought about in lithiasis management by ESWL.