Diagnosing inflammation of the prostate is currently a very straightforward procedure for a doctor. Apart from the rare atypical forms of the disease, it is relatively easy to diagnose acute prostatitis.
During the treatment of the disease, the patient should 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 special glycoprotein that is produced exclusively by prostate cells. Its main role is the liquefaction of sperm and the activation of sperm during the formation of the ejaculate.
This protein is found in the blood, and since it is only produced in the prostate, it partly demonstrates its function and all kinds of damage.
It is widely used in the diagnosis of diseases such as:
- chronic prostatitis;
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia - prostate adenoma;
- Malignant tumors of the male organ - prostate cancer.
A general blood test for PSA in chronic prostatitis can show the course of the disease and a dangerous complication of the disease, which is manifested by the degeneration of damaged cells into atypical cells 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 in 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 threshold for screening for normal activity of a tumor marker is a value of up to 4 ng / ml in the blood.
The amount of protein directly depends on the following factors:
- The age of man. There is some correlation between the age of the patient and the gland's activity of producing a marker;
| Years of age | PSA index, ng / ml |
| 40-49 | 2. 5 |
| 50-59 | 3. 5 |
| 60-69 | 4. 5 |
| >70 | 6. 5 |
- The regularity of sexual intercourse;
- The presence of an inflammatory process in the prostate;
- Physical trauma and organ damage;
- Postponed surgical interventions or specific diagnostic procedures (prostate massage, digital rectal examination);
- To take pills.
All of these can affect the number of antigens in the bloodstream and sometimes even confuse doctors. That is why it is necessary to know how to pass a PSA blood test for general male prostatitis, in order for further treatment to be successful.
Preparation of the PSA
Before a man donates blood for prostate specific antigen detection, he must observe some important points that prevent misinterpretation of the end result.
To avoid laboratory errors, the patient should consider the following characteristics:
- You should not eat 8 hours before the blood test. You can drink tea, juice, or water.
- Avoid cycling, stationary biking, or long-distance hiking (>5 km) 24 hours before the start of the study.
- 1 week before the test, you should refrain from sexual intercourse and masturbation, from spicy and smoked food.
- If the patient has had a transrectal ultrasound of the prostate (TRUS), digital rectal exam, colonoscopy or bladder catheterization, it should be at least 7 days before testing for PSA in the blood.
- After a prostate biopsy or prostate massage, you should wait 2 weeks.
Only if all these rules are followed, it will be possible to say that the PSA blood test for general prostatitis will be really reliable.
Decoding and objectives of PSA tests
The main goal of such an examination is the ability to monitor the course of the chronic form of the disease and to quickly identify the problem with a malignant tumor (tumor formation) of the prostate.
In diseases such as acute, chronic, bacterial, congestive prostatitis, the level of PSA may rise slightly to 5 ng / ml. It is not yet a cause for panic. If, after carrying out adequate drug therapy, the indicator does not normalize, then this is considered an absolute indication for an organ puncture with its subsequent histological examination.
Normally, the larger the prostate gland, the more cells are able to produce glycoproteins. It has been clinically proven that 1 gram of organ parenchyma in benign hyperplasia additionally synthesizes 0. 35 ng / ml of antigen. The same indicator of cancer is 3. 5 ng / ml.
This report allows doctors with a high degree of reliability to judge the possibility of developing malignant neoplasms in chronic inflammation of the prostate. According to statistics, 83% of cancer patients simultaneously suffered from prolonged inflammation of the male gland. This allows us to consider this pathology as a predictor of cancer.
Conclusion
A blood test for PSA in prostatitis is one of the mandatory examinations of urological patients. Its importance can hardly be overestimated, since it can reliably indicate the formation of atypical cell growth, which leads to the development of malignant neoplasms.