Study on PSA Levels in BPH Patients with COVID-19

In men diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), SARS-CoV-2 infection causes a significant increase in the levels of serum PSA during the disease's active period, reveals a recent study. This implies that PSA (prostate-specific antigen) readings made during the period of acute infection should be interpreted with caution. The study appears in the journal Urology.

Ahmet Emre Cinislioglu, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey, and colleagues conducted the study with an objective to investigate the effect of SARS CoV-2 on serum total PSA levels in men with BPH diagnosed with COVID-19.

For this purpose, the researchers retrospectively examined the PSA levels in patients who had had a PSA check at least 3 months, but no more than 6 months, prior to diagnosis of acute COVID-19 infection. They measured and recorded PSA levels from these patients on the first day of COVID-19 diagnosis. Then they compared PSA levels measured in the pre-COVID-19 period, during the period of active infection with COVID-19, and in the post-COVID-19 period.

Study Findings

• In total, 91 patients had a serum PSA level of 1.58 ± 1.09 ng/mL in the pre-COVID-19 period, a serum PSA level of 4.34 ± 3.78 ng/mL measured in the COVID-19 period, and 2.09 ± 2.70 ng/mL in the post-COVID-19 period.
• It was determined that the serum PSA level measured during active COVID-19 infection was statistically significantly higher than the PSA levels measured according to the pre-COVID-19 period and the post-COVID-19 period.

"COVID-19 infection causes elevations in serum PSA levels in men with BPH," the authors wrote. "Measuring PSA levels used in the diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and follow-up of prostate diseases in the acute period of infection and in the early period after infection treatment may cause false evaluations. This may affect the diagnosis and treatment steps of prostate diseases in these patients."

Reference

The study titled, "Variation of Serum PSA Levels in COVID-19 Infected Male Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH): A Prospective Cohort Study," was published in the journal Urology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2021.09.01