Cornud F, Belin X, Amar E, Delafontaine D, Hélénon O, Moreau J F
Service de Radiologie, Hôpital Necker, 149 rue de Sèvres, F-75015 Paris, France.
Eur Radiol. 1999;9(3):536-45. doi: 10.1007/s003300050706.
Varicocele can be very easily diagnosed by physical examination and subsequently treated when it is painful or associated with testicular hypotrophy. However, palpability of the spermatic vein and reflux in low grade or even questionable varicoceles can be difficult to assess without imaging modalities. This can be a common problem for all physicians treating hypofertile men to decide whether the varicele needs to be treated or not. However, a gold standard that defines the presence of a subclinical varicocele has not yet been established. The different diagnostic tools based on ultrasonography investigated these past years to define a flow reversal in incontinent spermatic veins are presented in the first part of this review, with emphasis on subclinical varicocele. In the second part, we present our experience, together with a review of the literature concerning embolization of the spermatic veins as an alternative to surgery to treat varicoceles.
精索静脉曲张通过体格检查很容易诊断出来，当它引起疼痛或伴有睾丸萎缩时可随后进行治疗。然而，在没有成像手段的情况下，对于轻度甚至可疑精索静脉曲张的精索静脉可触知性和反流情况可能难以评估。这对于所有治疗不育男性的医生来说，都是一个常见问题，难以决定精索静脉曲张是否需要治疗。然而，尚未确立定义亚临床精索静脉曲张存在的金标准。在本综述的第一部分介绍了过去几年基于超声检查的不同诊断工具，这些工具用于确定无节制精索静脉的血流逆转情况，重点是亚临床精索静脉曲张。在第二部分，我们介绍了我们的经验，并回顾了有关精索静脉栓塞作为治疗精索静脉曲张手术替代方法的文献。
