Semen analyses were performed on 50 men with chronic abacterial prostatovesiculitis (CPV) and 25 asymptomatic control subjects. All subjects had had symptoms of at least three months' duration, and the diagnosis was verified by rectal ultrasonography and after microbiologic culture of seminal plasma. Fifty-eight percent had increased concentrations of leukocytes (greater than 1 x 10(6)/mL) in the ejaculate compared with 15 percent in the controls. Only 10 percent of the CPV subjects could be classified as normospermic compared with 60 percent in the controls. The incidence of severe disturbances in sperm quality and azoospermia was also four times greater in the CPV group. Neither the degree of leukospermia nor the ultrasonographic findings could predict the extent of the disturbance in sperm quality.