PSA blood test for prostatitis

Diagnosing prostate inflammation is currently a very simple procedure for a doctor. Aside from the rare atypical forms of the disease, diagnosing acute prostatitis is relatively straightforward.

During the treatment of the disease, the patient must undergo a series of laboratory and instrumental examinations. Often times, patients are interested in why they need a general PSA blood test for prostatitis. Not everyone understands the role of this marker in diagnosing the underlying disease.

What is PPE?

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a special glycoprotein that is produced exclusively by the cells of the prostate. Its main task is sperm liquefaction and sperm activation during ejaculate formation.

This protein is found in the blood and since it is only produced in the prostate, it partially shows its function and all types of lesions.

It is widely used in diagnosing diseases such as:

• Chronic prostatitis;
• Benign prostatic hyperplasia - prostate adenoma;
• Malignant neoplasms of the male organ - prostate cancer.

A general PSA blood test in chronic prostatitis can show the progression of the disease and a dangerous complication of the disease, which manifests itself in the degeneration of damaged cells into atypical cells with the formation of prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific antigen is a tumor marker that can indicate the presence of a tumor at an early stage in its development.

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Since the protein is synthesized in the tissues of the male gland, the presence of a small volume of it in the blood is the norm. The screening threshold for normal tumor marker activity is up to 4 ng / ml in the blood.

The amount of protein depends directly on the following factors:

• The age of the man. There is some correlation between the age of the patient and the activity of the production of a marker by the gland;

Age years	PSA index, ng / ml
40-49	2. 5
50-59	3. 5
60-69	4. 5
>70	6, 5

• The regularity of sexual intercourse;
• The presence of an inflammatory process in the prostate;
• Physical trauma and organ damage;
• Postponed surgical interventions or specific diagnostic procedures (prostate massage, digital rectal exam);
• Taking medication.

All of these aspects can affect the number of antigens in the bloodstream and sometimes even confuse doctors. It is therefore necessary to know how to properly pass a PSA blood test in general male prostatitis in order for further therapy to be successful.

PPE preparation

Before a man donates blood for the detection of prostate-specific antigen, there are a few important points that must be considered to prevent the end result from being misinterpreted.

To avoid laboratory errors, the patient should consider the following features:

1. You must not eat anything for 8 hours before the blood sample is drawn. You can drink tea, juice, or water.
2. Avoid cycling, stationary cycling or long-distance hiking 24 hours before the start of your studies (>5 km).
3. 1 week before the test, you must refrain from sexual intercourse and masturbation and consume spicy and smoked food.
4. If the patient has had a transrectal ultrasound examination of the prostate (TRUS), a digital examination of the rectum, a colonoscopy, or a urinary catheterization, the PSA in the blood must be determined at least 7 days.
5. After a prostate biopsy or massage, you need to wait 2 weeks.

Only if all these rules are followed can it be said that the PSA blood test is really reliable in general prostatitis.

Decoding and objectives of PSA tests

The main purpose of such an examination is the ability to control the course of the chronic form of the disease and to quickly identify the problem if malignancy (tumor formation) of the prostate appears.

In diseases such as acute, chronic, bacterial, congestive prostatitis, the PSA level can easily rise to 5 ng / ml. This is not yet a cause for panic. If the indicator does not normalize after an adequate drug therapy has been carried out, this is considered an absolute indication for an organ puncture with subsequent histological examination.

Normally, the larger the prostate volume, the more cells are able to produce glycoprotein. It has been clinically proven that 1 gram of organ parenchyma in benign hyperplasia synthesizes an additional 0. 35 ng / ml of antigen. The same indicator of cancer is 3. 5 ng / ml.

This ratio allows doctors with high confidence to assess the possibility of developing malignant neoplasms in chronic inflammation of the prostate. According to statistics, 83% of cancer patients simultaneously suffered from prolonged inflammation of the male gland. This allows us to consider this pathology as a predictor of cancer.

Conclusion

A blood test for PSA in prostatitis is one of the mandatory examinations for urological patients. Its importance can hardly be overestimated, as it can reliably indicate the formation of atypical cell growth, which leads to the development of malignant neoplasms.