Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The significance and diagnostic value of semen analysis in chronic bacterial prostatitis has been extensively debated and remains controversial.
To investigate the diagnostic relevance of semen culture in the bacteriological workup of prostatitis patients, we retrospectively analyzed a clinical database of symptomatic patients. All patients were routinely subjected to a four-glass test, followed by semen culture and analysis. The 'five-glass' test showed 3. The area under the ROC curve and Jouden's index were increased, whereas positive and negative likelihood ratios were lower than comparators, indicating that the 'five-glass' assay may be superior in confirming the negative outcome of both standard tests.
The five-, four-, and two-glass tests detected TUs Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococci, etc. When patients were subjected to pharmacological treatment, including a combination of a fluoroquinolone and a macrolide, no differences in eradication rates were observed between groups diagnosed with different tests, irrespective of pathogen category.
In conclusion, our data support the usefulness of semen analysis in the diagnostic workup of prostatitis patients when this test is used to complement the four-glass Meares and Stamey test. Improvement of microbiological assays conveys important diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Keywords: alfuzosin, azithromycin, chronic bacterial prostatitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, ciprofloxacin, Meares and Stamey test, National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index, prostatitis, semen analysis, seminal fluid, Serenoa repens.
Chronic prostatitis CP syndromes have been traditionally classified as bacterial or abacterial 1. The aetiology of abacterial prostatitis is mostly unknown; experts hypothesize neurological, psychological, anatomical, or immunological disorders as possible causes of this condition 3 , 4.
