[Does some relation exist in the size and histological composition of the prostate?]

To determine if the histological composition of the prostate-the proportion of glands and stroma-depends on its size.

Prostate volume was determined by abdominal US; transurethral biopsy of the prostate was performed in 22 patients (mean age 64.8 years) with BPH or bladder tumor. Morphometric analysis of a fragment of the prostate was performed using light and electron microscopy. The stroma-epithelial ratio (SER) and the density of prostatic vascularization (DPV), and the nuclear and cellular areas of 5 epithelial cells in each case, were determined. The ratio of the sum of granular to cellular areas (secreto-cellular ratio), and the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio (NCR) were determined. The pearson coefficient and linear regression equation that best correlated the prostate volume and the rest of the variables.

The mean SER was 4:1 and the DPV was 15.18 vessels/mm2. The cellular and nuclear areas were 79.6 and 21.2 mu2, respectively. The secreto-cellular ratio was 0.083 and the NCR was 0.28. The prostate volume showed no mathematical relationship with SER (r = 0.016, p = 0.9) or DPV (r = 0.026, p = 0.9). Only a random association between the US prostate volume and the cellular and nuclear areas, and the secreto-cellular and NCR could be observed.

The histological composition of the prostate cannot be determined by the US prostate volume.