Does a clinical varicocele influence the relationship between testicular volume by ultrasound and testicular function in patients with infertility?

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether varicocele influences the testicular volume-function relationship.

DESIGN

Retrospective clinical study.

SETTING

University hospital.

PATIENT(S): One hundred fifty infertile patients with varicocele and 299 without varicocele.

INTERVENTION(S): Semen analyses, scrotal ultrasound, and serum FSH, LH, and T levels.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The mean testicular volume was measured by ultrasound. To evaluate the testicular volume-function relationship in infertile patients with varicocele and in those without varicocele, the patients were divided into seven and 10 groups, respectively, according to the mean testicular volume.

RESULT(S): The semen density, total sperm count, and serum FSH levels significantly correlated with the mean testicular volume in both patient groups, but patients without varicocele had a greater correlation coefficient than those with varicocele. The mean testicular volume with mean sperm densities indicating oligozoospermia was greater in the patients with varicocele than in patients without varicocele (12.5 and 10.0 mL, respectively). The mean testicular volume with mean FSH concentration exceeding the normal range was higher in patients with varicocele (15.0 mL) than in patients without varicocele (12.5 mL).

CONCLUSION(S): The testicular volume-function correlation differed between patients with varicocele and those without varicocele. The presence of varicocele therefore influences the relationship between the testicular volume and the testicular function.