Ultrasonographic estimation of prostate
size in normal dogs and relationship to
bodyweight and age
A study was undertaken to establish the ranges of prostate
dimensions, weight and volume in mature normal dogs and thus
provide information which would allow differentiation from normality
of size changes associated with disease. The study was performed
on 154 healthy adult male entire dogs. Each prostate was imaged
ultrasonographically and standard longitudinal and transverse
sections were obtained. Prostate length (L), depth on longitudinal
(DL) and transverse sections (DT) and width (W) were measured.
Prostatic volume and weight were estimated according to formulae
derived previously. There were statistically significant correlations
between bodyweight or age and L, DL, DT and W. There were also
significant correlations between estimated prostatic weight or
volume and bodyweight, age, L, DL, DT and W. Formulae were
derived to express the relationships between prostate size
(weight or volume) and age or boc’ weight.
G . ATALAN.P. E. HOLTAND F. J. BARR INTRODUCTION
Journal of S m z l Animal Practice (1999)
40, 119-122 The canine prostate gland produces a fluid
which will transport and support the sur-
vival of sperm and which is delivered to the
urethra during the terminal phase of ejacu-
lation (Greiner and Johnson 1983). The
prostate is differentiated into external and
internal portions (Dellmann and Wrobel
1987). The external portion is particularly
well developed and separated into two dis-
tinct bilateral lobes which completely sur-
round the proximal portion of the pelvic
urethra (Dellmann and Wrobel 1987). It is
bound cranially by the urinary bladder,
ventrally by the floor of the pelvis and
abdominal wall, and dorsally by the rectum,
from which it is separated by two layers of
folded peritoneum (Christensen 1979).
The normal canine prostate gland is
symmetrical with a smooth contour, is
located near the cranial brim of the pelvic
floor and does not displace the colon
Department of Clinical Veterinary and/or bladder from their normal posi-
Science, Division of Companion tions (Stone and others 1978). It varies in
Animals, University of Bristol,
Langford House, Langford,
shape from almost spherical to bilobed or
Bristol BS40 5DU pear-shaped (Barr 1990).
JOURNAI. OF SMALL ANIMAL PRACTICE VOL 40 MARCH 1YYY
The normal size and weight of the
canine prostate gland are said to vary
depending on age, breed and bodyweight
(Barsanti and Finco 1979). The gland
remains entirely in the abdomen until two
months of age, at which time the urachal
remnant breaks down. From two months
of age until sexual maturity, the prostate
gland lies in the pelvic canal (Christensen
1979). With increasing age, the prostate
moves cranially so that, in intact male dogs
over five years of age, most of the prostate
gland is abdominal in location which is
sometimes taken as a sign of prostatic
enlargement (Gordon 1961, O’Shea
1962). A full bladder may, however, pull
the prostate gland cranially, resulting in an
intra-abdominal prostate (Johnston and
others 1991, Mattoon and Nyland 1995)
which could be misinterpreted as an
enlarged gland. In addition, the normal
size of the canine prostate gland has not
been properly established and there is a
paucity of data on normal and abnormal
prostate parameters.
The normal diameter of the prostate in
mature dogs was reported by Allen and
others (1991) to vary from 2.5 to 3 cm. In
two- to five-year-old, 25-lb (1 1.4-kg) dogs,
the prostate varied from ovoid, 1.7 cm in
length by 2.6 cm in transverse diameter by
0.8 cm in dorsoventral diameter, to spher-
oid, 2 cm in diameter (Christensen 1964).
Using radiographic methods, the prostate
gland was considered to be enlarged by
Feeney and others (1987) if the prostatic
dimensions exceeded 70 per cent of the
pubic brim-sacral promontory distance.
Another study suggested that the size of
the normal prostate gland should not
exceed 50 per cent of the width of the
pelvic inlet on a ventrodorsal radiograph
(Lattimer 1986).
Prostatic consistency and size can be
better evaluated with ultrasonography
than with radiography (Cartee and Rowles
1983, Blum and others 1985, Feeney and
others 1987). It has also been suggested
that radiographic assessments overestimate
the size of the prostate due to the silhou-
ette sign with the colon, abdominal wall
119
 Table 1. Summary of prostate measurements in 154 dogs Table 2. Summary of prostate size estimations in 1 5 4

Meauurernents Mean

2.9 1.8-5.0
2.3 14-3.5 Prostate weight (g) 11.2 5.4-38.7
2.3 14-3.6
2.5 14-4.3 Prostate volume (cm3) 12.3 8.1-28.2

Table 3. Summary of correlation coefficients* between Table 4. Summary of correiation coefficients* between
bodyweight and age and prostate measurements in 154 estimated prostatic size and age, bodyweight and
dogs prostate measurements

Meaewsrnentn Boctywetgm Age Variable EmtJmath

Frostate we1g-M Wostete vdume
L 0.597 0.552
DL 0.574 0.561
Age 0.585 0.581
DT 0.594 0.555
Bodyweight 0.626 0.616
W 0.617 0.583
L 0.920 0.837
* All significant at P<O.OOI DL 0.892 0.952
DT 0.871 0.906
W 0-933 0.917
All significant at Pc0.001

and other soft tissue structures in the
periprostatic area (Feeney and others
1987).
A previous study established that ultra-
sonography provides a reproducible and
accurate method of measuring prostate
dimensions (Atalan and others 1999).
Using those methods, the aim of the pre-
sent study was to establish the normal
ranges of prostate dimensions, weight and
volume in mature normal dogs and thus
provide information which would allow
differentiation from normality of size
changes associated with disease.
and others (1999). Briefly, each prostate
was imaged according to the established
protocol using a 7.5 MHz mechanical
sector transducer (Dynamic Imaging,
UK). Standard longitudinal and transverse
sections were obtained (Figs 1 and 2) and
prostate length (L), depth on longitudinal
(DL) and transverse sections (DT) and
width (W)were measured in cm.
Prostatic volume and weight were esti-
mated according to the formulae derived
previously (Atalan and others 1999) as:
Prostatic volume (cm3)= 0.487 x L x
+
W x (DL DT)/2 6.38 + longitudinal and transverse sections were
Prostatic weight (g)= 0.508 x W x L
+
x (DL Dt)/2 + 3.21.
The distributions of the prostatic
dimensions were assessed for normality by
means of normal scores. In 154 dogs, the
relationships between bodyweight, age and
prostate measurements were tested by
means of correlation analyses. The same
analyses were employed to determine if
there were relationships between estima-
tions of prostate volume and weight and
age and bodyweight. The nature of any
relationships was investigated using regres-
sion analyses.
The measurements of prostate depth in
compared for statistical significance using
a paired t-test.

This study was conducted on 154 healthy
adult male entire dogs with the owners’
consent. All dogs had been presented to
the Department of Clinical Veterinary Sci-
ence, University of Bristol, for routine cas-
tration, orthopaedic disorders, respiratory
or urological problems. Age was estimated
in the case of dogs in which this was
unknown. The dogs undergoing urological
investigations were excluded if any evi-
dence of prostatic disease was detected.
The dogs ranged in age from one to 14
years (median 4.3 years) and in body-
weight from 4.5 to 65 kg (median 17.8 kg).
The protocol for measurement of the
prostate gland was as described by Atalan
Comparison of measurements
obtained
Ideally, the measurements recorded on the
longitudinal section (DL) and transverse
section (DT) should be comparable, as the
same depth of tissue is being imaged in
each case. The prostates were imaged
according to the established protocol in
each of 154 dogs. Measurements of DL
and DT were obtained in the two planes of
section in each dog and compared.
Statistical analyses
All statistical analyses were performed
using Minitab (Pennsylvania State Univer-
sity) or Instat (Graph Pad Software) com-
puter programs.
Prostate dimensions were normally distrib-
uted but bodyweight and estimated prosta-
tic weight and volume were not.
Logarithmic (10) transformation of these
data resulted in normal distributions and
so transformed data were used for statisti-
cal analyses.
The prostate measurements and size
estimations are summarised in Tables 1
and 2.
There were statistically significant cor-
relations between bodyweight and L, DL,
DT and W. Similarly, significant correla-
tions were obtained between age and L,

120
- JOURNAL OF SMALL ANIMAL PRACTICE VOL 40 MARCH 1999
FIG I.Longitudinal ultrasonographic scan of entire adult male
dog prostate, illustrating the measurements of length and depth.
Length (L): + to +
Depth (DL): X to X
DL, DT and W (Table 3). There were also
significant correlations between estimated
prostatic weight and age, bodyweight, L,
DL, DT and W (Table 4). Estimated
prostatic volume was also related to body-
weight, age, L, DL, DT and W (Table 4).
The relationships between estimated
prostatic volume and bodyweight and age
were:
prostaticvolume (cm3)=8.48 +
(0.238
x bodyweight [kg])
(Variance ratio (F)= 92.79; residual
mean square (RMS)= 11.4; P<O.OOl)
prostatic volume (cm3)=9.79 +
(0.871
x age [yrsl)
(F= 77.27; RMS= 12.16; P<O.OOI).
The equations for estimated prostatic
weight were:
prostatic weight (g)= 6.01 +
(0.373
x bodyweight [kg])
(F= 97.69; RMS= 18.8; P<O.OOl)
prostatic weight (g)= 7.78 +
(1.14 x
age [yrsl)
(F= 79.26; RMS= 20.4; P<O.O01).
Bodyweight was a better predictor
than age of both prostate volume and
prostate weight since it resulted in higher
F values and lower residual mean square
values.
There was no significant difference
between DL and DT, with a mean
difference of only 0.0032 cm (P>0.05),
and the matching was very effective
(P<0.0001).
JOURNAI. OF SMALL ANIMAL PRAC.TIC;E VOL 40
FIG 2. Transverse ultrasonographic scan of entire adult male
dog prostate, illustrating the measurements of width and depth.
Width (W): + to +
Depth (DT): x to x (arrowed)
DISCUSSION
Previous work (Atalan and others 1999)
demonstrated that there was no relation-
ship between prostate measurements,
weight or volume and bodyweight and age
in a group of 17 normal entire canine
cadavers. The present study demonstrated
the value of measurements on a large num-
ber of dogs and demonstrated significant
relationships between all these parameters.
Diqutlou and others (1997) also found a
significant correlation between prostatic
volume and bodyweight in dogs aged
between one and 10 years, although no
correlation was obtained in the age group
under one year old. In the present study,
no attempts were made to evaluate
separately dogs under one year of age due
to a limited number of dogs.
The regression equation of prostatic
volume against bodyweight found by
Diqudou and others (1997) (estimated
prostatic volume = 0.65 x bodyweight
+ 4.12) differed from that in the present
series. The differences may be due to the
fact that the formula used by Diqudou
and others (1997) for estimating prostate
volume was derived using only 15 dogs
and because of the nature of the relation-
ship between estimated prostate volume
and bodyweight examined in 83 dogs aged
from one to 10 years.
The relationships between estimated
MARCH 1911
prostatic volume and weight and body-
weight and age demonstrate that
allowances should be made for age and
bodyweight when assessing if the prostate
is abnormal in size. The influence of age
has previously been attributed to a varying
degree of hyperplasia at different ages
(Brendler and others 1983, Berry and
others 1986). O'Shea (1962) indicated
that the prostate of the adult dog passes
through three phases of growth in relation
to age: normal growth in the young adult
(one to five years), hyperplasia during mid-
dle age (six to 10 years) and involution in
old age (11 years plus). Nielsen and
Kennedy (1990) also suggested that the
hyperplastic condition was present in dogs
older than four years of age. Matera and
Archibald (1965) reported an incidence
of 60 per cent in male dogs over five years
of age, which is similar to that of
Schlotthauer (1932) who considered that
the prevalence of hyperplasia was 50 per
cent in all adult dogs.
The normal size of the canine prostate
is said to be 2.5 to 3.0 cm in diameter
(Allen and others 1991). However,
Christensen (1964) found that the size
in two- to five-year-old 25-lb dogs
varied from ovoid, 1.7 cm in length by
2.6 cm in width by 0.8 cm in depth, to
spheroid, 2 cm in diameter. Using ultra-
sonographic methods, in eight normal
dogs weighing 7 to 30 kg, the prostate
121
dimensions were measured as 2.2 cm in
length and 2.2 cm in depth by Cartee and
Rowles (1983). These measurements are
comparable with the results in the present
series.
The positive correlation between age
and estimated prostatic weight described
here is in agreement with other authors'
findings (O'Shea 1962, Isaacs 1984, Berry
and others 1986). Schlotthauer (1932)
found the average weight of the gland in
dogs under five years of age to be 0.4 glkg
bodyweight. The average weight of the
prostate was reported in mature 25-lb dogs
ranging from 2.5 to five years of age,
as being 6.8 g (Christensen 1964). In 10
beagles, the weight of the prostate varied
between 5.6 and 17.4 g (Wheaton and
others 1979), although Isaacs (1984)
recorded the prostatic weight of beagles as
between 12 and 14 g. Using ultrasono-
graphic methods, Juniewicz and others
(1989) calculated a mean prostatic weight
of 15.9 k 2.2 g. However, the present
results reveal a median estimated prostate
weight of 1 1.2 g. The differences between
this study and previous studies can be
explained by variations due to breed differ-
ences, age, bodyweight and the fact that a
larger number of dogs was used in the pre-
sent study.
Statistically, there was no significant dif-
ference between the measurements of pro-
static depth recorded on the longitudinal
and transverse sections. It therefore seems
that measurements may be taken on either
the longitudinal or transverse section and
used interchangeably. However, it may be
prudent to take both measurements in an
individual dog in order to confirm the
accuracy of ultrasonographic scanning.
A good image of the normal prostate
was achieved using a 7.5 MHz mechanical
sector scanner, as it results in good axial
resolution and adequate penetration of tis-
sue (Feeney and others 1987, Mattoon and
Nyland 1995). The most common diffi-
culty encountered in normal dogs when
imaging the prostate gland was scanning of
the transverse plane of section (Cartee and
Rowles 1983, Blum and others 1985,
122
- JOURNAL OF SMALL ANIMAL PRACTICE
Finn and Wrigley 1989). Th'IS was more
pronounced in young dogs under two
years of age with intrapelvic prostates. This
can be overcome by angulation of the
transducer towards the pelvis by 35 to 40"
during the transverse scan to view dorsal to
the symphysis pubis. The assessment of the
prostate gland is therefore possible regard-
less ofwhether the prostate gland is located
primarily in the pelvis or abdomen. In
some dogs, prostate palpation through the
rectum can be used to displace the prostate
cranially for imaging of the gland.
Transrectal ultrasonography might be
useful for assessment of prostatic size in the
dog and a number of studies have been
published (Blum and others 1985,
Juniewicz and others 1989, England and
others 1990). However, the high cost of
rectal probes and the need for sedation or
anaesthesia of the dog has inhibited its use.
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