Adult varicocele

Current Opinion in Urology

Volumn 18, Issue 6, 2008, Pages 608-612

  Kim, Howard H ^a,b   Goldstein, Marc ^a,b,c  

^a WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE   (United States)

^b ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL   (United States)

Author keywords

Adult varicocele; Pathophysiology; Varicocelectomy

Indexed keywords

ANDROGEN DEFICIENCY; GONAD FUNCTION; HUMAN; INFERTILITY THERAPY; LEYDIG CELL; MALE GENITAL SYSTEM SURGERY; MALE INFERTILITY; OXIDATIVE STRESS; PATHOPHYSIOLOGY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW; RISK FACTOR; SEMINIFEROUS TUBULE; VARICOCELE; VARICOCELECTOMY;

ADULT; FEMALE; FERTILITY; HUMANS; INFERTILITY, MALE; MALE; OXIDATIVE STRESS; PREGNANCY; PREGNANCY RATE; REPRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUES, ASSISTED; TREATMENT OUTCOME; UROLOGIC SURGICAL PROCEDURES, MALE; VARICOCELE;

EID: 55149125092     PISSN: 09630643     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/MOU.0b013e3283136493     Document Type: Review

References (17)

1. Zini A, Boman J, Jarvi K, et al. Varicocelectomy for infertile couples with advanced paternal age. Urology 2008; 72:109-113. The authors compared men aged 40 years and over to men younger than 40 years of age and found no significant differences in mean improvement in sperm parameters, ART utilization or pregnancy rates after varicocelectomy. This article suggests advanced age should not preclude varicocelectomy as potential therapy.
2. Shiraishi K, Naito K. Effects of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, a marker of oxidative stress, on sperrnatogenesis and expression of p53 protein in male infertility. J Urol 2007; 178:1012.
3. Cocuzza M, Athayde KS, Agarwal A, et al. Impact of clinical varicocele and testis size on seminal reactive oxygen species levels in a fertile population: a prospective controlled study. Fertil Steril 2007. doi:10.1016/j.fertn-stert.2007.07.1377. [Epub ahead of print]
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6. Chen SS, Huang WJ, Chang LS, et al. Attenuation of oxidative stress after Varicocelectomy in subfertile patients with varicocele. J Urol 2008; 179:639.
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9. Tanrikut C, Choi JM, Rosoff JS, et al. Improvement in serum testosterone levels after varicocelectomy. Fertil Steril 2007; 88 (Suppl 1):S386.
10. Al-Said S, Al-Naimi A, Al-Ansari A, et al. Varicocelectomy for male infertility: a comparative study of open, laparoscopic and microsurgical approaches. J Urol 2008; 180:266. Microsurgical varicocelectomy, although taking longer, resulted in significantly fewer hydroceles and varicocele recurrences as compared with the open and laparoscopic approaches. In contrast to many previous trials comparing varicocelectomy techniques, this study is distinguished by its relatively large sample size and randomized design.
11. Marmar JL, Agarwal A, Prabakaran S, et al. Reassessing the value of varicocelectomy as a treatment for male subfertility with a new meta-analysis. Fertil Steril 2007; 88:639. The authors applied the rigorous standards of the guidelines for meta-analyses established by the Potsdam Collaboration and found the odds of spontaneous pregnancy after varicocelectomy compared with no or medical treatment for clinical varicocele to be 2.87. Although this paper will not quell the ongoing dispute between varicocelectomy advocates and detractors, it highlights the importance of well defined and well designed study methodologies in performing meta-analyses.
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