Detection of varicocele by radionuclide blood-pool scanning.

Varicocele is a common and treatable cause of male subfertility. The authors describe a new technique for varicocele detection using radionuclide blood-pool imaging of the scrotum. Of 83 patients studied, 29 had a clinically palpable varicocele of various sizes, and 26 of them were demonstrated by this technique. Two of the false negatives were bilateral varicoceles. In the 41 patients with no clinically detectable varicocele, there were 10 positive and 10 marginally asymmetric studies. The results indicate that this technique detects unilateral varicoceles with high sensitivity, including some which are subclinical. There may be significant implications for treatment of infertility.