Diagnostic Parameters
Many parameters are available for evaluating patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) in order to assess the necessity for treatment and to evaluate results. At present there is no real agreement on their order of importance. This paper tries to define from a theoretical and practical point of view the role of the following parameters: symptoms; symptom scores; visual scores; time/voided volume chart; prostate size; uroflowmetry, nomograms for flow; residual urine; pressure/flow study; mathematical and computer processing of pressure/flow study. The Author underlines the critical role of invasive urodynamics (pressure/flow study) in categorizing patients as obstructed or non-obstructed, in grading the severity of outflow obstruction and in evaluating the pattern of detrusor contractility. Present studies to evaluate the results of old and recent treatments should include invasive urodynamics in order to obtain homogeneous groups of patients and to overcome the prevailing empiricism.