European Association of Urology Congress

Yesterday was the kick-off day for the Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology, with more than 9000 delegates from all over the world. I think it is the second most important congress in urology, after the American congress. In the afternoon, we celebrated a simposium on the new Greenlight HPS laser for the treatment of BPH. The symposium has coincided with the publication of our European Urology Supplement where we present the technical recommendations and the first wolrdwide results published on the treatment of BPH with this laser.


The symposium was moderated by Dr. Jean de la Rossette (right) and Dr. Alex Bachmann (left), Dr. Oliver Reich and myself did the presentations. The conference room was packed, with more than 400 attendees from all over the world.


First I spoke on recommendations on training and surgical technique, then Alex presented the results of the multicentric prospective study we are carrying out and finally Oliver spole on the use of this laser for the treatment of patients with big prostates, high risk patients and those under anticoagulation.


It was a very interesting symposim, we had many questions from the floor... a real success. Tomorrow I am presenting the video with technical recommendations that I will try to post here...

New visit to Jedda, Saudi Arabia

I am writing this entry to the blog from the airport in Istanbul, Turkey. I am returning to Madrid from Saudi Arabia, where I have been invited to train the urologists from Hospital King Abdul Aziz, from Jedda.

Here I found two friends; Dr. Hassan Farisi, who recently came to visit me in Madrid, and Dr. Abdulmalik Tayib, who also came to Madrid in the past and who I visited at the International Medical Center in Jedda.

We did seven operations with the new Greenligth HPS laser that went fine, in two very intense surgical sessions.

I had a chance to visit Jedda a little, an impressive city due to its size and a very modern one... this artificial geiser shoots water up to 200 meters. It is the highest in the world. I laughed with some of the urologists from this hospital comparing this to the flow I hope all patients will have after the operation... In sum, a new experience, very interesting, new friends... but I am quite tired after this... so I hope to rest a little during the Easter Holidays next week.

Visitor from Germany

Today I had the enormous pleasure of receiving the visit of Dr. Rainer Smith, an expert KTP laser user from Hamburg, Germany, who came to share his experiences with me. He watched two procedures and we had time to talk and exchange ideas and opinions. He is a delightful man and we enjoyed a lot together. I took a photo with him, but he bent down... he is really much taller than I am.

Inauguration of the first Greenlight laser in Venezuela

This weekend I flew to Caracas, to help with the first greenlight HPS laser installed in Venezuela, invited by the Instituto de Clínicas y Urología Tamanaco and Equisa, the distributor of AMS in Venezuela. I flew with Air Europa, who lost my suitcase... apparently it went to Cuba instead... I think I will never fly with a suitcase again...

We started with two talks in the morning, with the attendance of more than 80 urologists, and then I performed two operations that were transmitted to the meeting room. Both operations went really well.



The session was a huge success and there was a great deal of euphoria in the room... All urologists present had heard and read a lot about Greenlight laser vaporization of the prostate and were anxious to seeing it live, and they were not dissapointed.

After the meeting, I helped Dr. Vargas to operte three additional patients, and after a long and hard day we went to celebrate to a fantastic restaurant where we tried the best Venezuelan meat cuts... I enjoyed a lot, but at the end of the dinner the jet lag got me... so I went to sleep.

Today Dr. Juan Carlos Vargas is taking me out to see Caracas, and then back to the airport, still without my suitcase, but happy after a wonderful weekend in Venezuela.

Online Publication of our European Urology Supplement

Today I received the news that European Urology Supplements has published online the collection of articles we have been working on after the second meeting of the IGLU Group (International Greenlight Users) that was held in Madrid in July.

We invited Prof. Reza Malek, from the Mayo Clinic, the pioneer investigator of the use of the Greenlight laser to treat Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia to write the introduction, and we prepared four papers on history, surgical technique, recommendations for training, results in patients subgroups, and an article on complications and how to avoid them.

We hope this supplement will help to standardize the surgical technique for Greenlight HPS vaporization of the prostate, and help all urologists worldwide who are using this technique or are interested in using it.

Multinational visitors...

This thursday and friday I received the visit of three prestigious urologists from different countries. We were honoured by the visit of a urologist from Jedda, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, and Belgium.

We enjoyed both surgical sessions and also very interesting conversations. We also had time to eat the spanish way...

3rd International Course: Urology in the 21st Century, Sevilla

This morning I took the High Speed Train to Sevilla to participate in the III Curso Internacional: Urología del Siglo XXI - Medicina Basada en la Evidencia Científica, organised by the Hospital Universitario de Valme and the Department of Urology of the Cooper Hospital from New Jersey, USA.

My task was to participate in a round table on "New Technologies vs TURP", moderated by Dr. Pilar Laguna and with the participation of Dr. Jiménez Cruz (defending Holmium), Dr. Vicente (defending TURP), other alternatives (Dr. Pilar Laguna) and Simple laparoscopic prostatectomy (Dr. Octavio Castillo, from Chile - in the photo below, Dr. Vicente's face and Dr. Castillo delivering his presentation).

We had 10 minutes for individual talks and then we had a hot and fun discussion on the differences among techniques. I defended that no technique is perfect, but that probably Greenlight HPS laser prostatectomy offers the best balance between positive aspects and negative aspects among any existing technique.

A very well organised course... with massive attendance.

Visitor from Barcelona

Today I celebrated my 40th birthday with a full day surgical list... We received the visit of Dr. Pilar Luque, from the Hospital Clinic from Barcelona, who has recently started to use the Greenlight HPS laser for the treatment of BPH. I had three patients in the list, but she could only see one case of a man with a big prostate. We had time enough to discuss all surgical tricks and tips. It is possible that I will go to give her a hand to Barcelona soon.

Weekend in Amsterdam

I spent this weekend in Amsterdam, in the company of my colleagues and friends, Alex Bachmann, Jean de la Rosette and Oliver Reich. The goal of this meeting was to prepare a symposium on Greenlight Laser Prostatectomy that will be celebrated during the Annual Congress of the European Asociation of Urology. It promises to be a symposium charged with news and innovations... Luckily, apart from work, we had the chance to had dinner in a fabulous Japanese restaurant... this is the only photo from this trip, so I post it here....

Visitors from Vigo

Today we had the pleasure to receive the visit from two prestigious urologists from Vigo, who will start soon with their first cases with the Greenlight HPS high power laser. I operated a patient in their presence, and we had a chance to review in detail all the subtleties of the surgical technique... It seems that they want me to help them in Vigo with their first cases.... we had a great time together and we even had time to enjoy a great lunch...

Surgeries in Pamplona

I flew to Pamplona, where I spent the night because we started to operate early the next morning. I had been invited to perform three operations in the State Hospital Virgen del Camino. Once again we did three cases of endoscopic prostatectomy with the Greenlight HPS laser. It was a nice morning and we all had fun. All patients fared very well, as I was told later that week. I then returned to Madrid.

Conference to worldwide Greenlight distributors...

AMS, American Medical Systems, the manufacturer of the Greenlight HPS laser, invited me to share my experience with this laser with their worldwide distributors. I was already in Barcelona and I prepared a talk discussing my vision on this surgical procedure for the treatment of BPH in front of representatives from many companies from all corners of the world. I explained my experience and my opinions and enjoyed the company of some of the distributors that already had invited me to visit them, from India, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.... then I returned to Madrid....

World Congress on Controversies in Urology

On February 1st I participated in the First World Congress in Controversies in Urology (CURy), that was held in Barcelona, Spain. Here I had two commitments. One, to present the poster with the first results of the prospective multicentric study of the IGLU Group (International Greenlight Users), with the results of the Greenlight HPS 120 watt laser in patients in urinary retention, under anticoagulation, and with big prostates, that I copy below.



Another one, to participate in a debate where we addressed what was the best treatment for BPH. TURP (Transurethral resection of the prostate), the treatment with the Greenlight HPS laser or the Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP). In this session I confronted Prof. Marberger (who defended TURP), and Prof. Montorsi, the current editor of European Urology (who defended HoLEP) It was an interesting and intense debate, where I think it was clear that TURP continues to have a considerable morbidity and even mortality, and that the technical difficulty of HoLEP limits seriously its clinical use, the learning curve is too long. The Greenlight laser emerges as a treatment option that is very advantageous for the patients, due to its high efficacy and minimum morbidity... There are 1600 greenlight laser units worldwide and more than 300.000 patients have been treated.

In this photo, speaking, sitting by Dr. Montorsi (Italy) and Dr. Marberger (Austria)...

In this photo, Dr. Lepor (USA) and Dr. Djavan (Austria), who moderated the session.

Surgeries in Gran Canaria

Once again I flew to Gran Canaria to operate with Dr. Juarez. We did two procedures in two BPH patients, with the new Greenlight HPS laser, and everything went smoothly. I love to travel to Gran Canaria. The weather was not too good, but it is always a pleasure.

Visitor from Zaragoza

Today we received the visit of Dr. Luis Rodriguez Vela, an eminent urologist very devoted to andrology, from Zaragoza. He has decided to start offering Greenlight HPS treatment for his patients suffering from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. He spent the day with us, I had scheduled four laser surgeries, so we had a great time discussing the subtleties of this surgical technique....

Conference in Asturias

Today I took a plane to Asturias, to participate in the annual meeting from the Urological Society of Asturias. Then I returned to Madrid, unfortunately I could not stay for the dinner.

Surgery in Barcelona

From Santiago,I took a flight directly to Barcelona, and I could see from the plane the pyrenees covered with snow...

There I helped Dr. López Costea, at the Quirón Hospital in Barcelona, to operate a patient with a huge prostate. Then I returned to Madrid, late, as always, feeling better from my flu, but wanting to get some rest...

Surgical day in Santiago de Compostela

Yesterday I arrived at Santiago de Compostela, with a terrible flu. I had been invited to perform a live surgical procedure at the Hospital Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, where Dr. Marqués Queimadelos organises each year the Update in Urological Surgery Meeting, sponsored by the SINUG and the Sociedad Gallega de Urología.

The patient had been submitted to a TURP (Transurethral resection of the prostate) and had a very irregular prostatic urethra. Visibility was not perfect, but he got better and better and at the end the result was excellent.

Then in the afternoon, I did a presentation on Greenlight laser prostatectomy and then we went to have dinner to the famous "Hostal" in front of the Cathedral. It was raining and the view of the cathedral was breathtaking....

Fast trip to Miami

In this ocassion I was invited by AMS (American Medical Systems) to travel to Miami this tuesday, to give a one hour talk on Greenlight HPS for the treatment of BPH and to participate in a round table with eminent American urologists, Ricardo González, Gregg Eure and Joe Nuzzarello.. It was a wonderful meeting, albeit brief, I had to return on Wednesday afternoon. I just had time to take a boat and watch the beautiful Miami Skiline on my arrival...

Visitor from Iran

The 19th I met for the first time Dr. Dariush Marzbani, a prestigious urologist from Teheran, Iran. He came to madrid to visit us for some days decided to know the truth about the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with the Greenlight HPS.

We shared two surgical sessions, the 20th I operated three patients, and the 21st, I also did three cases. The 21st we also received Dr. Gelabert, from Mallorca, to see the operations. Dr. Marzbani left very happy and convinced, because we saw very interesting a varied cases. Small prostates, big ones, and even a patient who already had had a TURP and an open prostatectomy...

The major problem for the introduction of this technique in Irán seems to be the blockade the USA maintains on Iran. Apparently american companies cannot sell in Iran, specially when high technology is involved.

University Hospital Arnau de Villanova, Lleida

The night of the 16th I took the high speed train to Lleida. The following morning we woke up early to visit the University Hospital Arnau de Villanova to participate in a surgical session to demonstrate the new HPS laser in two patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Then I rushed back to Madrid in the High Speed Train (AVE). Christmas is near and I will have a chance to rest for a while.

BAU 2007 - National Urology Congress in Belgium

After my trip to the Canary Islands, I had to wake up very early to catch a flight to Brussels departing at 06:30. I had been invited to participate in the 7th Annual Congress of the Belgian Urological Association. I prepared a lecture on Greenlight Photoselective Vaporization for BPH.

The plane made us wait for three hours. This was compensated by the sight of an interesting fenomenon from the plane. A circular rainbow, that was resting on the clouds. A real beauty.

Then I drove to the congress center, where I did my lecture. Everything went fine. Some belgian urologists told me they would come soon to visit me in Madrid.

There I met my friend Jean de la Rosette, and we had lunch together. It is always a pleasure to learn from him. Then I returned to the airport, to go back to Madrid. I was really tired when I got home, but happy.

Surgeries in Gran Canaria

This thursday I took a plane to Gran Canaria, where we had programmed a joint surgical session with Dr. Juarez del Dago. I love coming to Gran Canaria, we always have a great time. The pity is that I flew in the morning flight and returned at night. We did two operations that were uneventful and satisfactory.


Then Dr. Juarez sent me this recently published news clip.