Is urethritis accompanied by seminal vesiculitis?
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether urethritis is accompanied by seminal vesiculitis using transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging.


METHODS
Fifty-six male patients (mean age 31.6 8.7 years) with urethritis were included in the study. As a control group,we also considered 34 healthy volunteers (mean age 21.3 1.8 years). The two groups were evaluated by the nucleic acid amplification test and imaging studies using TRUS.


RESULTS
The nucleic acid amplification test could identify 15 patients (26.8%) with gonococcal urethritis (five had accompanying chlamydial urethritis), 32 (57.1%) with chlamydial urethritis, and nine (16.1%) with nongonococcal and nonchlamydial urethritis. The mean anteroposterior diameter of the bilateral seminal vesicles was significantly longer in the urethritis group than in the controls (12.9 3.3 mm vs 11.0 2.0 mm, P = 0.004). The incidence of dilatation or cystic changes of seminal vesicles was significantly higher in the urethritis group than in the controls (dilatation: 30% vs 9%, P = 0.019; cystic change: 39% vs 12%, P = 0.007). There was no significant difference in the incidence of dilatation or cystic changes of seminal vesicles between gonococcal urethritis and chlamydial urethritis.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with urethritis are likely to have accompanying seminal vesiculitis. This suggests a close interrelationship among urethritis, seminal vesiculitis and epididymitis.
Furuya
Ryoji
R
Department of Urology, Furuya Hospital, Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. rufurya32@yahoo.co.jp
Takahashi
Satoshi
S
Furuya
Seiji
S
Saitoh
Nobuhito
N
Ogura
Hiroshi
H
Kurimura
Yuichiro
Y
Tsukamoto
Taiji
T
D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004822:Epididymis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012669:Seminal Vesicles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014521:Urethra / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014526:Urethritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D055815:Young Adult