Intraplaque injections of hyaluronic acid for the treatment of stable-phase Peyronie’s disease:a retrospective single-center experience

Peyronie’s disease(PD)is a condition of penile connective tissue affecting up to 10%of men worldwide.In the complexity ofits management,nonsurgical treatments,such as intraplaque injections,are gaining attention.The current literature shows dataon the efficacy of intraplaque injections of hyaluronic acid(HA)mainly in acute-phase PD.However,data on injections of HA instable-phase PD are lacking.Data for this retrospective study were derived from a prospectively maintained database of privatepatients presenting at a private medical practice affiliated to the University of Naples“Federico II”(Naples,Italy)with stable-phasePD between January 2020 and March 2023.Patients underwent a standard protocol of three injections,each administered at atwo-week interval.During the intervals,patients performed vacuum device therapy,penile stretching,and modeling exercises.Allpatients compiled the Peyronie’s Disease Questionnaire(PDQ)and Global Assessment of Peyronie’s Disease(GAPD)at baselineand 2 weeks after the third injection.A penile Doppler ultrasound was performed 2 weeks after the last injection to record thefinal curvature.Overall,we recruited 62 patients with stable-phase PD and a mean(±standard deviation[s.d.])curvature of52.7°(±9.7°).After 6 weeks,eight(12.9%)patients did not experience any curvature improvement.The remaining 54 patientshad a final mean(±s.d.)curvature of 40.3°(±9.1°)with P<0.001,compared to that before treatment.We found improvement inall PDQ domains(all P≤0.01),and 50(80.6%)patients reported subjective improvement of the penile curvature according to theGAPD.In conclusion,we demonstrated that after three injections of HA administered according to the adopted protocol,patientswith stable-phase PD could experience significant improvements in penile curvature,and physical and psychological consequencesof the disease without significantly relevant side effects.

Systematic review of the non surgical management of Peyronie's disease

This systematic review shows the "Status quo" on medical treatment for Peyronie's disease(PD). PD is a connective tissue disorder, characterised by the formation of a fibrotic lesion or plaque in the tunica albuginea, which leads to penile deformity. The aetiology of PD is unknown. Nowadays the most widely accepted hypothesis proposed by Gonzalez-Cadavid et al, is repetitive microvascular injury or trauma to the tunica albuginea. Physicians have proposed several medical alternatives for treatment of this disease with few effective results. Nevertheless, as of today nonsurgical options are currently available, and some of them are able to stabilize or even reduce deformity while improving pain relief and sexual function. A systematic literature search throughout the Medline database was carried out. Thecontrolled vocabulary of the medical subject headings database employs the specific term "penile induratio" for PD. A total of 50 articles on PD were found. Studies were selected based on clinical relevance. The recommended standard of care for PD involves an initial treatment in the acute phase. Several non-operative treatment options have been used. Unfortunately no further substantial, quality evidence on the use of medical therapy currently exits. There is, however, an increasingly enhanced interest in this disorder and basic scientifi c and clinical research will eventually lead to a more effective methodology to study the disease.

Efficacy and safety of low-intensity shockwave therapy plus tadalafil 5 mg once daily in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus and erectile dysfunction:a matched-pair comparison study

Low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy(LiESWT)represents a promising treatment for patients with erectile dysfunction(ED).We investigated the efficacy of LiESWT combined with tadalafil 5 mg once daily in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)and ED and compared LiESWT protocols administering different number of shockwaves.We performed a retrospective matched-pair comparison using data from a prospectively maintained database.Seventy-eight patients who received tadalafil 5 mg once dai7ly for 12 weeks+LiESWT performed with an electrohydraulic source for 3 weeks(Group A)were matched 1:1 to patients who received tadalafil 5 mg once daily alone for 12 weeks(Group B).A subgroup analysis was performed according to the number of shockwaves delivered during each session(1500,1800,and 2400 in subgroup A1,A2,and A3,respectively).The mean International Index of Erectile Function-5(IIEF-5)score variations with respect to baseline recorded at 4,12,and 24 weeks after the end of the treatment were investigated as treatment outcomes.The mean IIEF-5 scores significantly improved in all groups and subgroups at 4-week follow-up without intergroup differences.At 12-and 24-week follow-up,the mean IIEF-5 improvement was significantly higher among patients in the A3 subgroup(+5.0±2.1[P<0.001]and+4.7±2.3[P<0.001],respectively).The combined approach with tadalafil 5 mg once daily and LiESWT with a protocol involving 2400 shockwaves provides significant advantages in terms of IIEF-5 improvement and durability compared to tadalafil 5 mg once daily alone in patients with T2DM and ED.