In their introduction to this article, Drs. Engeler, Hauri and John of St. Gallen, Switzerland point out that prostatitis and male infertility each account for about 8% of all urologic office visits. However, the relationships between the two ?remain obscure?. They chose, therefore, to analyze the effects of prostatitis NIH type IIIB (sometimes called prostatodynia) on semen parameters in 30 afflicted men.

In their report, published in the November 2003 issue of European Urology, they performed extensive evaluation to confirm prostatodynia. This diagnosis required in expressed prostatic fluid fewer than 10 leukocytes/hpf, fewer than 104 bacteria/ml and also lack of significant growth of bacteria or any significant leukocytes in the ejaculate. They compared these 30 men to 30 age-matched asymptomatic controls.

Significant semen abnormalities existed in the men with prostatodynia: greater ejaculate volume, decreased motility, and markedly decreased fructose.

They point out that theirs is the first study to define these differences. Two other similar studies found no significant differences. They recommend that fertility potential of such patients should be evaluated. They also propose that these findings suggest a ?somatic etiology? for this type of prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Eur Urol 2003;44:549-555