[Benign prostatic hypertrophy: the therapeutic options]

BPH is a very diffuse condition among males increasing in incidence with the age. This explains the large interest in the evaluation of the different strategies concerning BPH treatment. The gold standard has still to be considered the transurethral resection of the prostate which all the other treatments must be compared to. More recently as alternatives to the invasive therapy, so called minimally invasive treatments have been proposed (thermotherapy, prostate dilatation, intraprostatic stents) whose real significance is not completely evaluable yet. As far as medical treatment is concerned, phyto-therapeutic agents have been partially replaced by different substances (alfa- blockers; 5-alfa reductase blockers) that are expected to have a promising future.