[Clinical studies of varicocele. 1: Clinical statistical analysis of varicocele].

A clinical statistical analysis was conducted of the patients with varicocele who visited the Department of Urology, Osaka City University, and its related hospitals. Regarding the age distribution, patients younger than 50 years old were predominant; this age group included 20 of 24 cases, or 83%. An overwhelming majority of the cases, 75%, had the main complaint of infertility; they had not been able to have children even after 2 to 3 years of marriage. The next most common complaint was swelling and/or an uncomfortable feeling of the contents of the scrotum. In all of the cases, the lesion was seen in the left side of the scrotum. When the patients were classified on the basis of the sperm count, oligospermia was predominant; it was seen in 15 cases (62.5%). A study on the relationship between the sperm count and the grade of varicocele revealed a tendency for the sperm count to show an inverse relationship with the grade. Testicular atrophy showed a direct correlation with the grade. Of the patients with varicocele, 5 patients had one or more children, while 8 patients (61.5%) complained of their inability to have a child. No particular relationship could be identified between the age at the time of visiting our Department as outpatients and the degree of testicular atrophy.