STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT TO ENHANCE THE DIAGNOSTIC-VALUE OF PROSTATE VOLUME .1. MORPHOMETRY IN PATIENTS WITH LOWER URINARY-TRACT SYMPTOMS

BACKGROUND. The diagnostic value of prostate volume results has been e valuated in patients with prostate problems of benign cause. METHODS. For 247 patients, automated volume results were compared to manual res ults of planimetric reference volume and of the classical ellipsoid fo rmula. Also, transition zone volume was estimated and growth curves of the prostate and prostate dimensions over age were investigated. RESU LTS. Application of automated volume determination gives accurate resu lts compared to the reference volume (Pearson correlation, R = 0.938). The ellipsoid volume results were slightly less correlated (R = 0.921 ). Average growth of the entire prostate was 1.7% per year, for the tr ansition zone the growth was 4.3%. Compared to growth rates for a comm unity-based population, comparable growth rates were found for our gro up that had higher mean prostate volume. CONCLUSIONS. The results indi cate that the age of onset of volume growth is the determining factor in developing benign prostate enlargement not a change in growth rate. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.