How to interpret the prostate leukocyte test results?

Prostate disease in men is very common. To understand the patient's condition, a routine prostate examination is necessary, and prostate leukocyte count is one of them. The prostate leukocyte count is used to determine whether the subject has prostatitis or stones and other diseases.

Prostatic fluid routine

Prostatic fluid is a milky white thin liquid secreted by the prostate. It is an important component of semen. Its content in semen is second only to seminal vesicle fluid, accounting for about 15% to 30% of the semen content, but prostatic fluid does not play a role in fertility. Clinically, prostatic massage is used to obtain prostatic fluid. The method is: after urination, the patient takes the chest-knee position, massages the prostate, and sees prostatic fluid overflowing from the urethra. Use a glass slide to collect the sample and send it for examination immediately to avoid drying.

Routine examination of prostatic fluid, also known as EPS examination, is a routine examination item for male urological diseases. Routine examination of the prostate generally refers to the appearance examination of prostatic fluid and microscopic examination. The main purpose of microscopic examination of prostatic fluid is to check for the presence of white/red blood cells, the number of phospholipid bodies and trichomonas, sperm, tumor cells (staining examination is required), amyloid bodies, and the presence of bacteria.

The main purpose of checking prostatic fluid is to understand whether the prostate has problems such as inflammation, stones, tumors, prostatic hypertrophy, etc.

In addition to being present in blood and lymph, white blood cells are also widely present in tissues other than blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. White blood cells are also commonly referred to as immune cells. When inflammation occurs in the human body, immune cells will naturally increase to protect the human body. Therefore, in clinical practice, laboratory white blood cell examinations are usually used to check whether the body has inflammation. Its rise and fall have clinical significance!

If there are more than 10 white blood cells in the prostatic fluid under the high-power microscope and the lecithin bodies decrease, it can be diagnosed as prostatitis. Generally, after prostatitis is confirmed, professional andrology hospitals will use the laboratory to clarify the type of prostatitis again, whether it is infected by pathogenic microorganisms, etc. Then further bacterial culture of prostatic fluid can make a clear diagnosis and classification of chronic prostatitis. If the bacterial culture result of prostatitis fluid is positive, chronic bacterial prostatitis is diagnosed; otherwise, it is chronic non-bacterial prostatitis.

How to correctly view white blood cells in prostatic fluid

When a patient comes to see a doctor for prostatitis, the doctor will first check whether the white blood cells in the prostatic fluid are normal. The white blood cells in the prostatic fluid are certainly the watershed for distinguishing inflammatory and non-inflammatory prostatitis, but andrologists diagnose whether the patient has prostatitis based more on the patient's specific symptoms. Because the white blood cells in non-inflammatory prostatitis are already within the normal range, these patients cannot be diagnosed through prostatic fluid examination. Therefore, the current international gold standard for diagnosing prostatitis is the prostatitis symptom scoring standard. In other words, the diagnosis of prostatitis mainly depends on the symptoms described by the patient.

It is worth noting that the white blood cells in the prostatic fluid can sometimes be "unpredictable"! In clinical practice, you may encounter a patient whose white blood cells are normal. This does not mean that the patient does not have "inflammation". The inflammation may be more serious than that of a patient with abnormal white blood cells! Why is this? It turns out that the patient has had a long course of illness, and the ducts (glandular ducts) in the prostate have been blocked, and the inflammatory cells (white blood cells) cannot be discharged. No wonder there are no white blood cells in the prostatic fluid! After treatment, such as using some Chinese medicine or heat therapy to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. As a result, the ducts are unblocked, and the white blood cells in the prostatic fluid will become more and more. When the patient looks at the test report, he thinks his condition has worsened. In fact, the doctor has a good idea that this is a good sign for improvement! When I asked the patient, I found that the symptoms were indeed alleviated a lot. After a period of treatment, the white blood cell count naturally dropped again. Therefore, you don't have to be too optimistic or pessimistic about the white blood cells in the prostatic fluid. It mainly depends on the doctor's explanation.

Speaking of white blood cells in prostatic fluid, some people have paid a heavy price, and they are always entangled with white blood cells. They have seen many doctors and taken many medicines, but the white blood cells just can't be reduced. In fact, if these patients do not have special symptoms, they do not need to take medicine. If they rest for a while, the white blood cells will also go down. Because when the human body is in an emergency state for a long time, the white blood cells will also rise. Internationally, it is stipulated that asymptomatic prostatitis is not recommended for treatment.

In a word, the diagnosis and treatment of prostatitis must be based on clinical symptoms rather than just test results.