The Diagnostic Value of the Color Doppler Ultrasonography in Chronic Prostatitis

Huh, Nam Bae; Cho, Won Yeol; Kim, Hyun Woo

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the significance of color Doppler ultrasonography in patients of chronic prostatitis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We analysed the pattern of color Doppler images and quantitative changes of vascular flow and flow velocity parameters(FVP) using a 7.0 MHz transrectal probe with findings of expressed prostatic secretion (EPS) from 22 patients with clinically suspected chronic prostatitis and 12 controls with clinically suspected prostatodynia retrospectively.
RESULTS
Compared with 2 groups according to color Doppler flow grade, higher grades(grade 2 or 3) of flow increase were more frequently seen in prostatitis group(54.5%) than in control group(33.3%)(p <0.05). But no significant difference was found in flow velocity parameter(FVP: maximal flow velocity, minimal flow velocity, resistive index, and pulsatility index) between control and prostatitis group. Two months later follow up ultrasonography of 5 cases in the prostatitis group after treatment, all of 5 cases showed decrease the color Doppler flow compared with the initial color Doppler image grade.
CONCLUSIONS
Grading of the amount of color flow with Doppler ultrasonography is of limited significance at efficacy decision after treatment in chronic prostatitis. But precaution should be taken to use color Doppler ultrasonography as objective diagnostic tool, although higher grades of flow increase were more frequently seen in prostatitis group than control group.