Peyronie's disease in young adults: Symptomatic burden and clinical characteristics

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Peyronie's disease is a benign condition involving the tunica albuginea of the corpora cavernosa of the penis. Objectives To investigate whether patients’ age has an impact in terms of Peyronie's disease (PD) clinical characteristics at presentation. Methods Data from a group of 110 consecutive patients aged >18 and <70 years with PD and seeking first medical attention at a single andrological tertiary-referral centre, with a complete clinical assessment and who completed the IIEF-15 and PDQ questionnaires were included in the study. Descriptive statistics was used to compare categorical and continuous variables, between young (≤45 years) and old (>45 years) patients at presentation. Linear and logistic regression analyses tested the association between age and PDQ subscales (Pain, Bother and Symptoms) or IIEF-erectile function domain scores (IIEF-EF ≤26), after adjusting for Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), Body Mass Index (BMI), duration of PD (as self-reported by the patient) and smoking habit. LOWESS curve was used to graphically investigate the association between age and PDQ pain score. Results Of 110, 28 (25%) patients were ≤45 years old. Young patients had lower BMI [median (IQR) 24.3 (22.5-25.6) vs. 25.2 (23.7-27.8); p=0.01] and CCI [CCI≥1 in 1 patient (3.6%) vs. 23 (28%); p=0.014) compared to older patients. No differences were found between groups in terms of severity of the penile curvature, PD duration and plaque size. PDQ pain score was 6 (2.8-12.8) for young and 3 (0-8) for older patients (p=0.03). No differences were found in terms of PDQ-symptoms and bother scores, and for IIEF domain scores. At regression analysis, younger age was associated with significant higher PDQ-pain scores at presentation (Coeff 4.45; 95%CI 1.06:7.84; p=0.011). No further associations were observed between age and the other questionnaires. The figure depicts the higher PDQ-pain scores in young compared to older age. Conclusion Younger PD patients are at higher risk of complaining penile pain at presentation. No difference in terms of symptoms, PD-associated bother, erectile function and other clinical and morphometric characteristics were found between younger and older patients at first assessment. Disclosure Work supported by industry: no.