The results of epididymal ablation by sclerosing agents in the nonhuman primate.

The purpose of this 6-month study was to see whether azoospermia could be produced by injection of sclerosing agents into the cauda epididymides. Three groups of monkeys had bilateral cauda epididymides injections with (1) 0.5 ml of 4% formalin in glycerol, (2) 0.5 ml of methylcyanoacrylate (MCA), or (3) 100 mg of quinacrine hydrochloride in 2 ml of saline. Failure rates were very high in the formalin and quinacrine groups (60% and 75%, respectively). Three animals given quinacrine died unexpectedly. In the MCA group the failure rate was 40%. Local tissue reaction to the sclerosing agent was minimal with MCA, compared with the other two agents.