Improved diagnostics of chronic inflammatory prostatitis.

Aim: Prostatitis is a prevalent condition that encompasses a large array of clinical symptoms with significant impacts on men's life. The diagnosis and treatment of this disorder presents numerous challenges for urologists, most notably, a lack of specific and effective diagnostic methods.

Methods: To improve the diagnostics the comparison of classic 4-glass test Meares and Stamey, 2-glass tests and 3-glass test was conducted in 177 men suspicious for chronic prostatitis.

Results: Four-glass test is uncomfortable both for patients and doctors, and leads to contamination of urine with prostatic secretion. Two-glass test is insufficiently effective too. Three-glass test (three urine specimens obtained from one continuous micturition stream) gives more adequate results and may be used for screening.

Conclusion: Three-glass test as screening test with the option of an additional EPS investigation in those patients the final diagnosis of chronic prostatitis has to be confirmed is more convenient for patients and doctors than the standard M&S 4-glass test and "false-positive" (contaminated with EPS) midstream urine results are avoided thus improving discrimination of urethritis, cystitis and prostatitis. Therefore, we recommend the KE 3-glass test as a new standard for screening patients with signs and symptoms of chronic inflammatory prostatitis.