Chilvers C, Pike M C, Forman D, Fogelman K, Wadsworth M E
Lancet. 1984 Aug 11;2(8398):330-2. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)92697-7.
Examination of Hospital Inpatient Enquiry data for England and Wales for the years 1962-81 shows that the annual number of discharges with a diagnosis of undescended testicle has risen by a factor of 2.3. Cohort analysis suggests that the cumulative rate to age 15 of discharge for undescended testis has risen from 1.4% for the 1952 birth-cohort to 2.9% for the 1977 birth-cohort. Whether this is a reflection of an increase in true cryptorchidism is not known. Changes in known risk factors for cryptorchidism--exogenous oestrogen exposure, being first-born, and low birth-weight--cannot fully account for the apparent increase. With the tendency to carry out orchidopexies on apparently undescended testes at younger ages in order to preserve fertility, it is possible that a considerable number of boys with retractile testes that would have descended naturally at puberty are now being operated upon.
对1962年至1981年英格兰和威尔士医院住院患者查询数据的检查显示，诊断为隐睾症的年度出院人数增加了2.3倍。队列分析表明，隐睾症至15岁的累积出院率已从1952年出生队列的1.4%上升至1977年出生队列的2.9%。这是否反映了真正隐睾症的增加尚不清楚。隐睾症已知风险因素的变化——外源性雌激素暴露、头胎出生和低体重——不能完全解释这种明显的增加。由于倾向于在较年轻时对明显未降的睾丸进行睾丸固定术以保留生育能力，现在可能有相当数量原本会在青春期自然下降的回缩性睾丸男孩正在接受手术。
