Association between testicular microlithiasis and varicocele in infertile men: A comparative study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Andrology and STDs, Kasr Al-Ainy, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza

2 Department of Andrology and STDs, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt

3 Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt

4 Department of Andrology and STDs, Kasr Al-Ainy, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo university

Abstract

patients with varicocele.
Patients and Methods: A total of 60 patients with infertility and clinical varicocele were assessed in comparison with 60 healthy fertile controls. The two groups were evaluated by history taking, clinical examination as well as semen analysis (WHO, 2010). Color Doppler ultrasonography was performed to assess the rate of TM in both groups. Finally, hormonal profile was studied for those with infertility and sperm concentration less than 10 million/ml.
Results: Sonographic features of TM were revealed in 4/ 60 (6.7%) of cases with varicocele. However, this finding was of statistical insignificance (P=0.081). Of those cases, three had left varicocele associated with ipsilateral TM and one had bilateral varicocele and bilateral TM, whereas there was no sonographic evidence of TM in controls. Cases with TM were associated with primary infertility.  Conclusion: In brief, this study demonstrated that only four of the 60 patients revealed intratesticular calcifications, and this was statistically insignificant. Moreover, there were also 23 healthy controls with subclinical varicoceles that were detected by scrotal duplex. However, TM was not detected in them. Thus, association of TM with varicocele is controversial. Finally, we recommend further studies to replicate this finding and to perform studies that compare fertile men and infertile patients with varicoceles to replicate this finding.

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