Clinical Diagnostic Procedure (do you really have prostatitis?)

From: jrh (no_at_spam.com)
Date: 03/24/05 

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 08:52:04 GMT

A Clinical Diagnostic Procedure,
that may be of use to prostatitis sufferers and their doctors.

jrh

Semen Analysis Page 3
Samples which do not liquefy need additional treatment such as
exposure to bromelin, to make the sample amenable to analysis (6,
25). The sample should be well mixed in the original container.
Incomplete mixing is probably a major contributor to errors in
determining sperm concentration.

Consistency
The consistency, also called viscosity, of the liquefied sample can
be estimated by gentle aspiration into a 5-ml pipette and then
allowing the semen to drop by gravity and observing the length of
the thread formed. A normal sample leaves the needle as small
discrete drops, while in cases of abnormal consistency the drop
will form a thread of >2 cm (6, 25). Another method to estimate
consistency does not use needles and is performed by introducing a
glass rod into the sample and observing the thread that forms on
withdrawal of the rod. Again the thread should not exceed 2 cm (6,
25). Increased consistency has the same clinical meaning as
abnormal liquefaction, and may be related to prostate dysfunction
resulting from chronic inflammation (6).

from

Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Semen_analysis_rrumbullaku.htm