Long-term use of tamsulosin to treat lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia

Purpose: The long-term efficacy and safety of 0.4 mg. tamsulosin once daily were assessed in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia treated for up to 4 years.Materials and Methods: A total of 516 patients were enrolled from 2 European open label studies that were extensions of 3 double-blind controlled studies.Results: Significant improvement in maximum urine flow and total Boyarsky symptom score during the controlled trials was sustained throughout the extension study for up to 4 years in patients who remained on therapy. The increase in mean maximum urine flow from baseline was 1.2 to 2.2 ml. per second (p <0.001) and it remained 11.5 to 12 ml. per second during followup. Total Boyarsky symptom score was decreased from baseline by 4.1 to 4.7 points (p <0.001). The incidence of treatment responders, defined as a 25% or greater decrease in total symptom score, remained stable throughout the 4-year period. Increasing the dose of tamsulosin from 0.4 to 0.8 mg. seemed to have...