Echo color Doppler findings in postpubertal mumps epididymo-orchitis.

OBJECTIVE

To describe echo color Doppler features of mumps epididymo-orchitis in postpubertal boys and men.

METHODS

Color Doppler ultrasonographic examinations of the scrotum in 12 patients (14-34 years old) with serologically proven mumps and symptomatic epididymo-orchitis (pain and scrotal swelling) were compared with color Doppler ultrasonographic examinations of the scrotum in 10 healthy control subjects.

RESULTS

Clinically evident testicular involvement was bilateral in 1 patient and unilateral in 11 patients (9 left- and 2 right-sided). Four (33.3%) of 12 patients had swelling and a heterogeneous echo texture of the epididymis and hydrocele. Two (16.7%) of 12 patients had swelling of both the epididymis and didymus of the involved side, with a heterogeneous echo texture of the didymus due to hypoechoic, irregularly shaped, confluent intraparenchymal areas. Two (16.7%) of 12 patients had only unilateral mild hydrocele and no testicular abnormalities. In 4 (33.3%) of 12 cases, B-mode ultrasonographic examination did not show any testicular abnormalities or hydrocele. Hydrocele was anechoic in 4 cases and multiseptated in 4. In 12 (100%) of 12 patients, color Doppler and power Doppler ultrasonography showed hypervascularity in the parenchyma of the affected testicle. In 11 patients, spectral Doppler examination of the arteries at the testicular hilum showed a significantly lower mean +/- SD resistive index (0.54 +/- 0.03; range, 0.48-0.57) on the inflamed side compared with the opposite unaffected side (mean, 0.66 +/- 0.04; range, 0.71-0.60) (P < .001). In the patient with bilateral involvement, the mean resistive index values in the right and left testicular arteries were 0.57 and 0.55, respectively. The mean resistive index of the 13 inflamed testicles (0.54 +/- 0.03; range, 0.48-0.57) was significantly different from the mean resistive index values of the right (0.68 +/- 0.03) and left (0.67 +/- 0.04) testicular arteries in healthy control subjects (P < .001). The mean resistive index in the 11 unaffected testicles in our patients (0.66 +/- 0.04; range, 0.71-0.60) was not significantly different from the mean resistive index in healthy control subjects. CONCLUSION. Ultrasonographic findings in mumps orchitis are not specific. Echo color Doppler examination is more sensitive than ultrasonography alone for revealing testicular inflammation.