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2008 Annual Meeting Abstracts
Prostate Volume Changes Over Time: Results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Stacy Loeb1, Anna Kettermann*1, H. Ballentine Carter1, Luigi Ferrucci2, E. Jeffrey Metter2, Patrick C. Walsh1
1Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD;2National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD
Introduction: According to a 1944 publication by Swyer, after age 45 some men develop BPH with further prostatic growth; whereas, in other men prostate size remains stable or decreases with advancing age (J Anat 1944; 78: 130). Although there is an abundance of literature describing prostatic enlargement in association with BPH, less is known about the phenomenon of prostate shrinkage.
Methods: In the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, serial pelvic MRI’s were performed in men without prostate cancer beginning in 1993. From this population, we retrospectively identified 242 men with ≥2 MRI-determined prostate volume measurements, in order to examine differential growth rates in a cohort of community men over time.
Results: The median age was 55 years, and the median prostate size was 27 cc at study entry. At a median follow-up of 4.2 years, prostate size increased in 61%, and remained stable or decreased in 39%. The median rate of volume change was 0.58 cc/year (range, -9.9 to 11.8), corresponding to a median growth rate of 2.2% per year (range, -29.2 to 108.5%). Over follow-up, 63% of men with an initial prostate size <40 cc had prostate growth, compared to only 51% of men with an initial size ≥40 cc.
Conclusions: These results suggest that changes in prostate size are highly variable among aging men. Although BPH is common, a considerable proportion of aging men have prostate atrophy. Further research is needed to identify the underlying mechanism for such vast differences in prostate growth.
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