Morphometric: analysis of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia with and without bladder outlet obstruction

To investigate the histological features of benign prostatic hyperplasia (B PH) with and without bladder outlet obstruction (BOO), 32 patients with sym ptomatic BPH, 22 with BOO and ten without BOG, were studied. The area densi ty of smooth muscle, fibrous tissue, glandular epithelium, and glandular lu men in BPH adenoma resected by transurethral surgery was estimated using mo rphometric analysis. No differences were found in the area density of strom al and glandular components between the two groups. In the glandular compon ent, neither the epithelium nor lumen differed between the two groups. Howe ver, the area density of smooth muscle in the obstructed group showed a dec rease compared to that in the unobstructed group (P < 0.01). We conclude th at a decreased proportion of smooth muscle in BPH adenoma may play an impor tant role in BOO.