Etiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Seminal Vesicle Stones.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Seminal vesicle (SV) stones are a rare, and thus readily misdiagnosed condition in practice. Understanding the etiology, diagnosis, and management are crucial to guide a urologist's care, and are provided in this literature review.

METHODS: The inclusion criteria for the literature search, using the search engines MEDLINE® and PubMed was conducted using a combined query of "seminal vesicle stone" and the following keywords: calculi, hematospermia, calcification, and transrectal ultrasound (TRUS).

RESULTS: The etiology of SV stones is currently unknown where majority of the patients present with having painful ejaculation and hematospermia. However, clinicians have reported potential etiologies by categorization as an inflammatory or non-in-flammatory. A majority of the previous cases had shown multiple stones being present in the SV duct system that are typically diagnosed through radiological examination such as TRUS, MRI, or plain radiographs. Amongst the many imaging approaches, TRUS remains the primary imaging diagnoses of SV calculi. Transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy has shown to be used in an abundant of the case reports to be an ideal surgical approach for managing small SV stones. In regard to larger stones, a transperitoneal laparoscopic protocol is proper.

CONCLUSION: The current imaging techniques have increased the case reports and diagnosis of SV calculi; however, more research is warranted for understanding the pathogenesis of the formation of SV stones. An optimal management of the extraction of SV stones depends on a number of factors such as size and location.