Diagnosing inflammation of the prostate gland is currently a very simple procedure for a doctor. In addition to the rare atypical forms of the disease, it is relatively easy to diagnose acute prostatitis.
During the treatment of the disease the patient needs to undergo a series of laboratory and instrumental examinations. Often patients are interested in why they should have a general PSA blood test for prostatitis. Not everyone understands the role of this marker in diagnosing the underlying disease.
What is PSA?
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a specific glycoprotein that is produced exclusively by prostate gland cells. Its main role is the liquefaction of sperm and the activation of sperm during the formation of ejaculate.
This protein is found in the blood and since it is produced only in the prostate, it partially indicates its function and all types of lesions.
Widely used in the diagnosis of 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 course of the disease and a dangerous complication of the disease, which manifests itself with the degeneration of damaged cells into atypical ones 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 of its development.
Normal indicators
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 activity of a tumor marker is a value up to 4 ng / ml in the blood.
The amount of protein depends directly on the following factors:
- Age of husband. There is a definite link between the patient's age and the activity of producing a marker by the gland;
| Mosha, vite | PSA index, ng / ml |
| 40-49 | 2. 5 |
| 50-59 | 3. 5 |
| 60-69 | 4. 5 |
| >70 | 6. 5 |
- Regularity of sexual intercourse;
- Presence of an inflammatory process in the prostate;
- Physical trauma and organ damage;
- Delayed surgical interventions or specific diagnostic procedures (prostate massage, digital rectal examination);
- Taking medication.
All of these aspects can affect the number of antigens in the bloodstream and sometimes even confuse doctors. This is why it is necessary to know how to correctly pass a PSA blood test for general male prostatitis in order for further therapy to be successful.
Preparation of PSA
Before a man donates blood for the detection of prostate specific antigen, he must observe some important points that prevent misinterpretation of the final result.
To avoid laboratory errors, the patient should consider the following characteristics:
- You must not eat for 8 hours before taking a blood sample. You can drink tea, juices or water.
- Avoid cycling, stationary cycling or long distance walking (>5 km) 24 hours before the start of the study.
- 1 week before the test, you should refrain from sexual intercourse and masturbation, taking spicy and smoked food.
- If the patient has undergone transrectal prostate ultrasound (TRUS), digital rectal examination, colonoscopy, or bladder catheterization, it is necessary to wait at least 7 days before the PSA in the blood is determined.
- After a prostate biopsy or prostate massage, you should wait 2 weeks.
Only if all these rules are followed will it be possible to say that the PSA blood test for general prostatitis will be truly reliable.
Decoding and purposes 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 occurs.
In diseases such as acute, chronic, bacterial, congestive prostatitis, the PSA level may rise slightly to 5 ng / ml. This is not yet a cause for panic. If, after performing adequate drug therapy, the indicator does not normalize, then this is considered an absolute indicator for an organ puncture with its subsequent histological examination.
Normally, the larger the prostate volume, the more cells are capable of producing glycoprotein. It has been clinically proven that 1 gram of organ parenchyma in benign hyperplasia also synthesizes 0. 35 ng / ml antigen. The same indicator for cancer is 3. 5 ng / ml.
This report allows physicians with a high degree of reliability to judge the possibility of developing malignant neoplasms in chronic inflammation of the prostate gland. According to statistics, 83% of cancer patients at the same time suffered from prolonged inflammation in the male gland. This allows us to consider this pathology as a predictor of cancer.
Conclusion
A blood test for PSA in the prostate is part of mandatory urological patient examinations. Its importance can hardly be overestimated, as it can certainly indicate the formation of atypical cell growth, which leads to the development of malignant neoplasms.