CORRELATION OF TRANSRECTAL ULTRASOUND MEASUREMENTS OF PROSTATE AND TRANSITION ZONE SIZE WITH SYMPTOM SCORE, BOTHER SCORE, URINARY FLOW-RATE, AND POST-VOID RESIDUAL VOLUME

Objectives. To assess the correlation of total prostatic size and pros tate transition zone dimensions with various measurements of the sever ity of bladder outlet obstruction secondary to benign prostatic hyperp lasia. Methods. Prostate-specific antigen, creatinine, American Urolog ical Association symptom score, bother score, urinary history, uroflow metry, and post-void residual urine volume determination was followed by measurement of the prostate gland and transition zone on transrecta l ultrasound images in 136 men undergoing systematic prostate biopsies . Patients were divided into five groups based on past urinary tract t reatment history and the presence of prostate cancer on the biopsies. The total prostate and transition zone dimensions, as well as calculat ed prostate and transition zone volumes, were compared by Pearson corr elation with both the subjective and objective voiding parameters in e ach patient group. Results. The transition zone dimensions correlated positively with American Urological Association symptom score, bother score, and post-void residual urine volume and correlated negatively w ith maximum and mean flow rates, particularly in patients with no hist ory of prostate surgery, alpha-blocker administration, urinary infecti ons, irritative voiding symptoms, or prostate cancer. Conclusions. Tra nsrectal ultrasound measurements of transition zone dimensions correla te better than total prostatic dimensions or calculated prostatic or t ransition zone volumes with the severity of benign prostatic hyperplas ia. Of these, the transverse transition zone dimension demonstrated th e best correlation; however, this correlation is probably not adequate for clinical utility. UROLOGY 52: 462-466, 1998. (C) 1998, Elsevier S cience Inc. All rights reserved.