We are extremely pleased to note that our article was the basis for an editorial comment. We completely agree with the editor that it is crucial to improve our clinical algorithms to diagnose patients with immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease of the prostate. The suggestion that patients with IgG4-related prostatitis could be identified by concurrent allergic disorders such as bronchial asthma is, in our opinion, not firmly supported by clinical evidence. Such an association was suggested by an article from Japan,1 but has not been confirmed in other groups studying IgG4-related disease. Furthermore, based on our clinical experience, we feel that patients with IgG4-related disease rarely, if ever, report symptoms of, or were previously diagnosed with, allergic disease.
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