FRIDAY, Oct. 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with an increased incidence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) complications, including urine retention and hematuria, according to a study published online Oct. 18 in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Alex Qinyang Liu, M.D., from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues examined the correlation between SARS-CoV-2 infection and BPH complications using large-scale real-world data. Data were included for male patients attending the public health care system in Hong Kong receiving alpha-blocker monotherapy for lower urinary tract symptoms from 2021 to 2022; patients with and without a positive polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 were selected as the exposure and control groups, respectively.

The analysis included 17,986 patients after propensity score matching, of whom half (8,993) had confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The researchers found that the SARS-CoV-2 group had a significantly higher incidence of retention of urine, hematuria, clinical urinary tract infection, culture proven bacteriuria, and addition of a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor (5ARI) compared with controls. Across different age groups, similar differences were seen in subgroup analyses. No significant differences in the incidence of retention, hematuria, or addition of a 5ARI were seen across different COVID-19 severities.

“We are excited to be the first to report the effects of COVID-19 on complications of benign prostatic hyperplasia — or enlarged prostate — and also demonstrate the alarming extent of its urological effects,” Liu said in a statement.

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