Abstract
Purpose: Patients with spinal cord injuries have abnormal seminal plasma, which contributes to impaired sperm motility and viability. A common finding in these patients is an elevated leukocyte count in semen. We examined the prostatic tissue of spinal cord injured patients vs young healthy controls to determine whether a pathological process related to the prostate gland is a possible source of leukocytospermia. Materials and Methods: Seven men with a mean age of 26.1 years with spinal cord injury and 4 controls with a mean age of 35.0 years underwent standard transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy. Semen analyses were performed prior to biopsies. At least 3 biopsy cores were obtained from each prostate and all underwent routine hematoxylin and eosin staining. Results: No significant abnormalities were found in any prostate biopsy cores. Two spinal cord injured patients had minor evidence of prostatic inflammation in 1 core. No inflammation was seen in any control specimens. None of the specimens showed signs of malignancy. Conclusions: Prostate biopsies obtained in this study did not show any signs of a chronic or acute significant inflammatory process that could explain increased leukocytospermia seen in patients with spinal cord injury.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 897-900 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Urology |
Volume | 170 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 2003 |
Keywords
- Leukocytes
- Prostate
- Prostatitis
- Spermatozoa
- Spinal cord injuries
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Urology