Abstract

"Purpose: Male urethritis is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but the etiology is still unclear in many cases. We retrospectively studied and compared the detection rate of the causative organisms in patients with urethritis symptoms and signs between 2000 and 2009. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 181 patients with urethritis symptoms and signs who had undergone a gram stain, urethral swab culture, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) assay in 2000 and 2009 at a single hospital. Changes in detection rate of the causative organisms between 2000 and 2009 were analyzed. Results: The common pathogens in 2009/2000 were Ureaplasma urealyticum (27.40% vs. 13.89%, p=0.025), Mycoplasma species (12.33% vs. 5.56%, p=0.107), Chlamydia trachomatis (10.96% vs. 12.04%, p=0.827) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (4.11% vs. 1.85%, p=0.367). Detection rate of Ureaplasma urealyticum significantly increased in 2009 compared to 2000 (p=0.025). Conclusions: Ureaplasma urealyticum was the most common pathogen of nongonococcal urethritis in our study. In particular, Ureaplasma urealyticum was found to have increased significantly in recent years."

• Keywords: Urethrits, Ureaplasma urealyticum