Men with low serum testosterone and symptoms of androgen deficiency may be diagnosed with testosterone deficiency. This condition is associated with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. The benefits (eg, improvement in sexual function) and risks (eg, prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease) of testosterone therapy are controversial. The American Urological Association and European Association of Urology guidelines on testosterone therapy differ on several points of management, likely reflecting the ambiguities surrounding testosterone therapy in practice. This paper summarizes both guidelines with a focus on the differences between the two sets of guidelines. PATIENT SUMMARY: The benefits and risks of testosterone therapy are controversial, as reflected in the European Association of Urology and American Urological Association guidelines that differ on several points of management.
European urology focus. 2019 Mar 08 [Epub ahead of print]
Mikkel Fode, Andrea Salonia, Suks Minhas, Arthur L Burnett, Alan W Shindel
Department of Urology, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, Herlev, Denmark. Electronic address: ., Division of Experimental Oncology/Unit of Urology, URI, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy; Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy., Imperial College Healthcare, NHS Trust, London, UK., The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA., Department of Urology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.