Body mass index predicts failure of surgical management in benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Introduction: Inflammation is postulated to link obesity and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The role of inflammation and the prognostic significance of body mass index (BMI) was investigated in BPH patients.

Subjects And Methods: Consecutive patients with histological BPH were identified from 1996 to 2005. Systemic inflammation was assessed by modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) and local inflammation by Klintrup-Makinen criteria.

Results: In 392 patients, BMI was associated with cardiovascular disease (p = 0.033), type 2 diabetes mellitus (p = 4.45 × 10), aspirin usage (p = 0.018) and failure of surgical treatment (p = 0.001). mGPS and Klintrup-Makinen scores were not associated with clinical variables or outcome measures. On multivariate analysis BMI was an independent predictor of time to failure of surgical management of BPH, HR 1.56 (95% CI 1.11-2.19), p = 0.010.

Conclusions: The mGPS and Klintrup-Makinen scores were not associated with BMI in BPH patients. High BMI is associated with failure of surgical management of BPH. Preoperative weight loss should be strongly encouraged in these patients.