Guo Chunzhi, Qu Yan, Liu Hong
General Surgery/Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of ZunYi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou, China.
Department of Thyroid Surgery, Qingdao Central Hospital, University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Qingdao Central Hospital), Qingdao, Shandong, China.
SAGE Open Med. 2025 Jun 25;13:20503121251338670. doi: 10.1177/20503121251338670. eCollection 2025.
This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between varicose veins and hydroceles.
Genetic data for varicose veins and hydroceles were extracted from a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS). A total of 22,037 cases of varicose veins and 2634 cases of hydroceles were included for Mendelian randomization analysis. Inverse variance-weighted (IVW) analysis was employed as the primary method, with weighted median and MR-Egger analyses were used for supplementary validation. Several sensitivity analyses were performed to further assess the results.
The IVW analysis of varicose veins on hydroceles revealed an odds ratio (OR) of 1.117 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.009-1.236; = 0.014). Conversely, the IVW analysis of hydroceles on varicose veins showed an OR of 0.983 (95% CI, 0.944-1.025; = 0.330). Heterogeneity and pleiotropy were negative in the bidirectional analysis.
This study suggests that varicose veins may be a risk factor for hydroceles. However, there is no evidence to support hydroceles as a causal risk factor for varicose veins. Our findings provide genetic evidence for the potential role of varicose veins as a risk factor for hydroceles, offering new insights for clinical practice. By establishing the causal relationship, high-risk patients can be identified, allowing for early surveillance of hydrocele presence to facilitate timely intervention and optimized treatment strategies. A statistically significant causal relationship between varicose veins and hydroceles was found, whereas hydroceles did not exert a causal impact on varicose veins.
本研究旨在探讨静脉曲张与鞘膜积液之间的因果关系。
从全基因组关联研究（GWAS）中提取静脉曲张和鞘膜积液的遗传数据。共纳入22037例静脉曲张病例和2634例鞘膜积液病例进行孟德尔随机化分析。采用逆方差加权（IVW）分析作为主要方法，加权中位数和MR-Egger分析用于补充验证。进行了多项敏感性分析以进一步评估结果。
静脉曲张对鞘膜积液的IVW分析显示比值比（OR）为1.117（95%置信区间（CI），1.009 - 1.236；P = 0.014）。相反，鞘膜积液对静脉曲张的IVW分析显示OR为0.983（95% CI，0.944 - 1.025；P = 0.330）。双向分析中的异质性和多效性均为阴性。
本研究表明静脉曲张可能是鞘膜积液的一个危险因素。然而，没有证据支持鞘膜积液是静脉曲张的因果危险因素。我们的研究结果为静脉曲张作为鞘膜积液危险因素的潜在作用提供了遗传证据，为临床实践提供了新的见解。通过建立因果关系，可以识别高危患者，以便对鞘膜积液的存在进行早期监测，从而促进及时干预和优化治疗策略。发现静脉曲张与鞘膜积液之间存在统计学上显著的因果关系，而鞘膜积液对静脉曲张没有因果影响。
