Clinical classification of chronic prostatitis: a preliminary investigation.

AIM: To propose a practical clinical classification for the chronic prostatitis (CP).

METHODS

The clinical features and the findings in the expressed prostatic secretion (EPS) in 804 cases of CP patients were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

Four types of CP were identified based on the clinical manifestations and the amounts of white blood cells (WBC) and lecithin in EPS. They were the latent type (85 cases; 10.6%), the common type (423 cases; 52.6%), the persisting type (104 cases; 12.9%), and the active type (192 cases, 23.9%). The therapeutic efficacy for these 4 subtypes were 40.4%, 76.8%, 30.8% and 37%, respectively; a statistical difference was noticed between the common type and the persisting type (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The method of classification proposed by the authors may help clinicians in the diagnosis and predicting the prognosis of CP.