Urology is consistently among the top across all specialties in terms of the volume of health care services delivered to older adults. Most general urologists estimate that at least 70% of their patients are over 65 years of age. Because of this, there is a need for professional education targeted specifically to geriatrics as it applies to urological practice. High-quality care for older adult patients depends on practitioners having a unique set of knowledge, skills and attitudes which span the entire spectrum of research and clinical practice. Ongoing work in these areas has helped to expand our knowledge base and raise important new questions for future study.

The 2022 annual scientific meeting of the Geriatric Urological Society (GUS) will be held in conjunction with the upcoming AUA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Sunday, May 15, Room 353 at the New Orleans Convention Center. This year’s program will again focus on recent research in the field including basic science, translational work and clinical considerations. Each presentation will include time for questions and discussion with audience members and presenters.

Dr. Alex Gomelsky, Chair of Urology at Louisiana State University (LSU) Shreveport, will moderate the first session, “Aging and Bladder Health: A Clinical Case-Based Discussion.” He will be joined by 3 excellent panelists from the Department of Urology LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, all of whom are experts on voiding dysfunction and urinary health.^1,2 These include Dr. Elizabeth Rourke, Assistant Professor; Dr. Ryan Krlin, Associate Clinical Professor; and Dr. Christopher Winters, Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs and Chair of the Department of Urology at LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans. They will review a variety of clinical problems commonly seen in older urological patients and offer various viewpoints on evaluation and management options.

Dr. Camille Vaughan is Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Geriatrics) and Director of the Center for Health and Aging at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the Atlanta site director for the Birmingham/Atlanta Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, and is Division Director of Geriatrics and Gerontology in the Department of Internal Medicine at Emory. As a geriatrician, she focuses much of her research and clinical work on care of chronic comorbid disorders in older adults, with a special interest and expertise in urological effects of neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson disease.³ She will present “Parkinson Disease and the Impact on Urologic Health in Older Adults,” which will include her own research and other work in the field.

Dr. Lori Birder is Professor of Medicine in the Renal and Electrolyte Division at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. An expert in basic and translational science related to aging and bladder structure and function, she is a prolific researcher and has published extensively on her work. Recent research has focused on the role of the bladder epithelium and metabolic changes associated with bladder storage and voiding problems.⁴ Her presentation is “Aging-Associated Lower Urinary Tract (LUT) Dysfunction Involves Altered Purine Metabolism.”

Dr. Bernadette Zwaans is Director of Research in the Department of Urology at William Beaumont Medical Center and Oakland University School of Medicine at Royal Oak, Michigan. She has expertise in the areas of translational and clinical research related to outcomes of radiation therapy for the treatment of urological malignancies.⁵ This includes not only physiological changes, but psychosocial outcomes as well. This is a growing area of research interest, particularly for geriatric patients. Her presentation is “Cancer Survivorship in Older Urologic Patients: Issues after Pelvic Radiation.”

Dr. Ananias Diokno, Immediate Past-President of GUS, is Retired Chief Medical Officer and Past-Chair of Urology at Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, Michigan, and now Professor of Urology at the University of Central Florida. He has been doing some critical analysis of the published literature on testosterone replacement therapy in older adults and its relation to other conditions, including prostate cancer. He will present “Testosterone Treatment for Hypogonadism and Aging-Related Prostate Gland Diseases: Evidence-Based New Approach.” This is a provocative new way of thinking about these issues, particularly in elderly men, and may raise some new hypothetical questions and areas for future research in the field.

The final 2 presentations of the session will include a brief Research Roundtable of abstracts submitted to the GUS on recent research. Dr. Michael F. Basin, a urology resident in training at the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate in Syracuse, will present “Chemodenervation with Intravesical Injection in Older Adults.” Dr. Mostafa Mostafa, Assistant Lecturer in Urology at Asiut University Hospitals and School of Medicine in Asiut, Egypt, and currently a Research Fellow in Urology at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, will present “Improvement in Overactive Bladder Symptoms following Different Prostatectomy Procedures: Comparison between HoLEP, PVP and TURP.”

The annual GUS scientific meeting is a time for all people interested in the geriatric aspects of urological science and clinical practice to come together to discuss recent work. It is a chance not only for an update in current science, but also an opportunity to network with others in the field and develop new ideas for future efforts. We hope that you will be able to join us.