Left-sided grade 3 varicocele may affect the biological function of the epididymis

Scandinavian Journal of Urology
Mikael LehtihetAke Pousette

Abstract

Varicocele is present in approximately 30-40% of men evaluated for infertility and in 10-20% of the general male population, but the association between varicocele, compromised semen quality and male infertility remains unclear. This indicates that varicocele may impair spermatogenesis or in some other way mitigate sperm quality. Better understanding of criteria for the selection of men who will benefit from varicocele repair would improve the clinical management of men with impaired semen quality and varicocele. To further understand the effect of varicocele repair by embolization in men with grade 3 varicocele, 50 men referred for infertility with varicocele were evaluated before and after embolization. There was a significant improvement in total sperm count (25.5 ± 4.7 million to 78 ± 11 million, p < 0.001) and sperm motility (slowly and rapidly progressive) (31.5 ± 2.9% to 45 ± 2.5%, p < 0.001) after spermatic vein embolization, comparing baseline to 3 month post-treatment follow-up data. Furthermore, alpha-glucosidase (specific epididymis-derived protein) increased from 61.7 ± 5.7 U to 84.7 ± 7.0 U (p < 0.05) and sperm droplets decreased from 14.2 ± 1.5% to 11.0 ± 1.0% (p < 0.05). The results indicate improved epididymal ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 6, 2020·Archivio italiano di urologia, andrologia : organo ufficiale [di] Società italiana di ecografia urologica e nefrologica·Georgios TsampoukasNoor Buchholz

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