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clinical practice in the close future is the use of artificial intelligence and of machine learning. I think that this will change a lot the way of our thinking. Imagine that you could put all the data of your patients in a machine and the machine was able to analyze parameters, that you are not able to analyze independently. For example, the age of the patient, together with the pressure in the bladder, in association with the clinical history. Combining all this data, may potentially help us defining the prognosis of the patient and individualizing the treatment, choosing the best therapeutic plan for each patient. For instance, there is some evidence that you can foresee the response of botulinum toxin in comparison to neuromodulation, using artificial intelligence. I believe that this will be the future of our subspecialty. In this moment, we use the treatments which are available, a little bit like a menu list in a restaurant. In the future, I think that we will be able to understand what is the best treatment for every single patient, using also the approach of the artificial intelligence. Of course, this won't substitute our thinking, but it will help our thinking!
T.S.: In your opinion, what is the role of minimally-invasive surgeries in your area of specialization? Do they really have a benefit?
Prof. Finazzi: I think they are very important. If you consider, for instance, minimally-invasive treatment for benign prostatic obstruction, we have seen many new treatments in the last few years. There has been progress in this field. Of course, we have to understand exactly what kind of minimally-invasive treatment is the most appropriate for a specific case and probably we still don't know that. But I think that in the future we will have more minimally-invasive procedures and less pharmacological treatment. At the end, probably this will reduce the costs of the treatment of our patients. It can also improve the quality of life, because sometimes alpha-blockers have an impact on ejaculation, for instance, and maybe some of these minimally-invasive treatments will be able to preserve the ejaculation. So, we may see a little bit of change in the sense of less pharmacological treatment and more minimally invasive surgery. Maybe, the final treatment will remain a more aggressive surgery, but later during the life of the patient. Also, for neurogenic patients or for female incontinence, we already saw botulinum toxin changing completely the management of patients with neurogenic bladder and minimally-invasive surgery for female incontinence. Also, injectables can become
more developed and popular. I think that minimally- invasive treatments are the future. Of course, we have to be careful. I have seen a lot of treatments that were developed, used, and then abandoned after a period of time. The different treatments have to prove their worth to stand the test of time . Yet, I think that the direction is to move towards minimally-invasive treatments.
F.N.: What were your feelings when you were elected as the Chairman of the EAU Section of Functional Urology?
Prof. Finazzi: My feelings were honor and a little bit of fear, because it's an important role. I hope to rise to the challenge of this role. Of course, I also felt a profound sense of happiness and joy at the opportunity to meet people from all around Europe and other countries outside Europe. In my opinion, and I say this as a motivation for younger doctors, the opportunity to meet people from other countries, with different experiences, with different cultures, but with the same passion for Urology, for the patients we follow, for the scientific field we are interested in, this is probably the best part of our job. This is the way to enrich your culture, your scientific knowledge, but also your personal knowledge. Meeting people from different countries is probably the best part of our work.
F.N.: Can you give us a clue about the next initiatives that we can anticipate from the ESFU in the near future?
Prof. Finazzi: We are working on that. Probably something new will come in the future. What I can tell you is that we have a Masterclass which is organized in collaboration with the European School of Urology. The Masterclass will be held this year in Leuven, in September. This initiative will go on. Probably, we
Tεύχος 29 | Mάϊος - Ιούνιος 2024
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