Mass screening program for prostatic diseases with transrectal ultrasonotomography.

A special chair-type apparatus for transrectal ultrasonotomography was developed in our laboratory 3 years ago. We did a mass screening program for prostatic disease, using this equipment as the primary study in the system. The 132 apparently normal men evaluated ranged in age from 40 to 76 years (mean 55.0). The 48 patients suspected of having prostatic disease underwent secondary studies, consisting of the usual urological examinations. Prostatic disease was detected in 24 cases, including 18 cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Thus, the model program revealed an extraordinarily high prevalence of latent prostatic disease among apparently normal older men.