The impact of abdominal aortic calcification and visceral fat obesity on lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Objectives To investigate the impact of abdominal aortic calcification and visceral fat area (VFA) on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and clinical parameters in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods We retrospectively studied 250 patients with LUTS associated with BPH. Each participant was examined with routine examination including measurement of various data; (1) voided volume (VV), maximum urinary flow rate on free uroflowmetry, (2) postvoid residual urine volume and prostate volume using transabdominal ultrasound, (3) International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), and (4) aortic calcification index (ACI) and VFA were measured by abdominal CT. Results Mean age of the patients was 72.4 ± 9.6 years. ACI significantly correlated with VV ( P = 0.0392) and tended to correlate with maximum urinary flow rate, while ACI did not correlate with subjective symptoms. VFA significantly correlated with nocturia score of IPSS ( P = 0.0177) and frequency score of OABSS ( P = 0.0166) and tended to correlate with urgency score of IPSS and maximum urinary flow rate. Conclusions Aortic calcification index (ACI) correlated with only objective parameters, while VFA correlated with only storage symptoms. This study suggested that abdominal aortic calcification and VFA have certain influence on LUTS and clinical parameters in patients with BPH.