Prostatic Size Variation with Age: Randomized Community-based Survey in Chungbuk Province

Kim, Tong Wook; Lee, Hyung Lae; Kim, Wun Jae

Abstract

PURPOSE: It is known that size of the prostate increases with age, but there is no guideline of size of the prostate to be applied to Korean men. This study reports the size change of prostate with age in Korean men.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
To determine the prostatic size, 645 volunteers(539 normal group and 106 BPH group) from Chungbuk province underwent transrectal ultrasonography (Scanner 200, Pie Medical, Netherlands). Size of the prostate was estimated as a weight by the elliptical method.
RESULTS
The mean prostate weight was 22.4+/-8.4gm(range 7~83gm). The relationship between prostate volume and age was statistically significant in 645 volunteers(r=0.17, p<0.0005). Also, between normal group and benign prostatic hyperplasia group, there was significant correlation with age(r=0.16, P<0.0005), while results were insignificant with size(r=0.13, p>0.1).
CONCLUSIONS
Size and rate of growth of the prostate were smaller compared to the western society, nevertheless, prostate size increased with age. For accurate and reasonable age-specific size of the prostate of Korean male, community based multicenter study will be needed with more accurate measurement techniques such as step-section planimetry for the prostatic volume estimation.