Department of Urology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Medical School, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Med Hypotheses. 2013 Oct;81(4):544-6. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.06.028. Epub 2013 Jul 26.
Varicocele is frequent but correctable cause of male infertility. Varicocelectomy is the most commonly performed operative procedure for varicocele. Majority of varicocele patients do not have fertility problem, therefore surgical correction is not recommended in all prevalent cases. On the other hand, varicocele is a progressive condition in some cases and individual with varicocele is at risk for developing impairment which can ultimately lead to semen deterioration and consequent infertility. Selection of patients with varicocele that will progress and cause infertility is beyond our current diagnostic capabilities. Diagnostic assessment of varicocele depends on physical examination and scrotal ultrasound/doppler. Infrared digital thermography of scrotum is a non-invasive and objective diagnostic method for early varicocele detection by means of temperature measurement on the scrotal skin surface. The criteria for diagnostic use of scrotal thermography were recently presented. We hypothesize that the infrared digital thermography of scrotum could be the cornerstone in detection of varicoceles that tend to progress with impairment of semen quality and will require surgical correction, among all prevalent varicocele cases.
精索静脉曲张是男性不育的常见但可矫正的原因。精索静脉结扎术是治疗精索静脉曲张最常用的手术方法。大多数精索静脉曲张患者没有生育问题，因此不建议对所有常见病例进行手术矫正。另一方面，精索静脉曲张在某些情况下是一种进行性疾病，患有精索静脉曲张的个体有发生损伤的风险，这最终可能导致精液恶化和随后的不育。选择会进展并导致不育的精索静脉曲张患者超出了我们目前的诊断能力。精索静脉曲张的诊断评估取决于体格检查和阴囊超声/多普勒检查。阴囊红外线数字热像图是一种通过测量阴囊皮肤表面温度进行早期精索静脉曲张检测的非侵入性和客观诊断方法。最近提出了阴囊热像图的诊断使用标准。我们假设阴囊红外线数字热像图可能是检测那些有进展倾向、导致精液质量受损并需要手术矫正的精索静脉曲张的基石，这些精索静脉曲张存在于所有常见的精索静脉曲张病例中。
