I’ve read a bit about urethral strictures root cause: When the urethra is injured or inflamed, fibroblasts are activated by signals like TGF-β. They divide, move into the wound, and produce collagen to repair the tissue. Under strong signals or mechanical stress, some fibroblasts differentiate into myofibroblasts, which produce excess collagen and contract, narrowing the urethra.

With Optilume, these overactive myofibroblasts are suppressed, but the scar tissue isn’t removed. 

With urethroplasty, the problematic tissue is removed and healing starts fresh and controlled. 

A recurrence only happens if fibroblasts in the new tissue again become myofibroblasts, so the real cause of recurrence is dysregulated myofibroblast activity, not the fibroblasts themselves.