[Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis among men consulting in urology. Comparative study between cell culture and sperm PCR].

Objective: Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection can be difficult to diagnose, depending on the precise site of infection. Given the lack of major clinical signs and symptoms in many cases and the risk of male and female infertility. Chlamydia trachomatis is a public health problem. It can be difficult to detect this pathogen in sperm by means of cell culture, because of seminal fluid toxicity for cell lines. New techniques such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to detect genomic DNA.

Study Design: We studies 81 patients by applying the Amplicor CT PCR test to sperm, in comparison with cell culture on sperm and urethral samples.

Results: The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection was not significantly different (3.7% vs 5%) in the urethral cell culture and PCR methods, respectively (p > 0.05). In contrast, PCR was significantly more sensitive than sperm cell culture (5% vs 1.2%; p < 0.03). Moreover, we have not detected of genital chlamydiose among the infertile men.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that PCR detection of Chlamydia trachomatis can dispense with the need for urethral sampling and cell culture in selected male patients.