Are Chronic Prostatitis and Urethritis Related? / 대한남성과학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: It is the general conception that chronic prostatitis is initiated by urethritis. However, in the actual clinical situations, many male patients without histories of urethritis. To evaluate the possible relationship, a review of patients with chronic prostatitis was carried out. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred consecutive patients with prostatitis were reviewed retrospectively concerning the duration of prostatits, any history of urethritis, and the history of intercourse, including that with a high-risk partner(e.g., prostitute). RESULT: A history of urethritis was found in 216 of the patients(72%),but 30 patients(10%) denied both high-risk sexual intercourse and urethritis. In 54 patients (18%), there was no history of urethritis but a recognized sexual encounter with a high-risk partner. CONCLUSIONS: Having urethritis may not be an important factor in chronic prostatitis. This information could be most comforting to those who are afflicted with chronic prostatitis and concerned about the nature of their disease. Chronic prostatitis can be explained simply as an inflammation of prostate, not a dreadful end result of sexually transmitted disease.