Steven A. Kaplan, MD, discusses ProVee System and the future of BPH care

In this video, Steven A. Kaplan, MD, director of the Men's Wellness Program at Mount Sinai Health System and a professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses how the ProVee prostatic urethral stent represents a meaningful shift in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), particularly when viewed against both surgical interventions and medical therapy.

Mechanistically, Kaplan emphasizes that ProVee’s key differentiator is not simply that it is an expanding urethral device, but that it belongs to a new class of flexible, catheter-like technologies. Its delivery through a flexible cystoscope under local anesthesia fundamentally changes how and when BPH can be treated. Unlike other minimally invasive therapies that require rigid instrumentation, operating room resources, or more invasive tissue ablation, ProVee can be placed quickly—often at the initial office visit—much like placing a urinary catheter.

Kaplan characterizes this ease of delivery and short procedural time as a “game changer,” arguing that ProVee is the first technology positioned to compete directly with BPH medications rather than surgery. Historically, new therapies have been benchmarked against transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), which he describes as a “historic standard” rather than a true gold standard. ProVee, by contrast, offers the possibility of avoiding medications altogether, thereby sparing patients from drug-related side effects while offering rapid symptom relief. He suggests that shifting even a portion of medication-managed patients to an office-based stent therapy could have a dramatic impact on BPH care.

Regarding patient selection, Kaplan explains that the ProVIDE trial criteria—prostate volumes of 30 cc to 80 cc and appropriate urethral length—reflect the overwhelming majority of men presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms due to BPH. In real-world practice, extensive pre-procedure workups are often unnecessary. Basic evaluation, such as transrectal ultrasound or clinical examination, is usually sufficient. The largely “one-size-fits-all” design further simplifies decision-making. Although larger prostates may eventually be studied, current criteria appropriately target the patient population most likely to benefit today.