UK-ROPE outcomes demonstrate value of registries

Dendrite Clinical SystemsThe positive outcomes from the UK-ROPE (Registry of prostate embolization) – a collaboration initiated by British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR) and Dendrite Clinical Systems – has resulted in a National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendation that prostate artery embolization (PAE) should be made available by the NHS. The registry was jointly funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR), the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) and Cook Medical.

UK-ROPE utilised Dendrite’s unique ‘Intellect Web’ national registry software to facilitate on-line data entry. The Registry was accessed using a range of modern html-5 compatible web browsers, allowing registrants to enter data securely without the need to install additional software or perform any complex system configurations.

“I would like to congratulate the investigators of ROPE on the outcomes of the registry,” said Dr Peter Walton, Managing Director of Dendrite Clinical Systems. “The outcomes from ROPE and recommendation by NICE again demonstrates the power of ‘real world’ data from clinical registries.”

Prostate artery embolization or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is used to treat non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate, a very common condition in older men, and blocks some of the blood supply to the prostate using tiny synthetic beads, causing the troublesome tissue to shrink and die, and importantly, spares patients from undergoing surgery and potential side-effects such as impotence.

When compared directly with a matched cohort of men undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), patients who underwent embolization had less hospital stay, fewer erectile function problems, improved urinary flow and an average reduction of prostate size of nearly 30%.

"It (PAE) is a particularly good option for men who are not yet ready to undergo more invasive prostate surgery. Maintaining sexual function and fertility is one of its main strengths,” Dr Nigel Hacking, Chairman & clinical lead for the UK-ROPE Standing Committee and consultant interventional radiologist at University Hospital Southampton, told the BBC. "I hope with NICE's recommendations, that more centres will be able to introduce PAE services in the not too distant future."

Since 1993, Dendrite Clinical Systems has been developing specialist clinical databases, analysis software, consultancy and publishing services that empower the international healthcare sector with the data they need. The company now has two offices in the UK and agents across four continents, and has expanded its global user base across hundreds of hospitals, with over 170 national and international registries in more than 40 countries.