OBJECTIVE: To assess the improvement of seminal characteristics and pregnancy rates after microsurgical varicocelectomy in men with subclinical varicocele. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: University infertility clinic. PATIENT(S): One hundred forty-three patients with a subclinical left-sided varicocele. INTERVENTION(S): Patients who agreed to microsurgical varicocelectomy (n = 25, surgery group), medical treatment with L-carnitine (n = 93 drug group), and those who did not agree to any treatment (n = 25, observation group) were enrolled. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Semen characteristics were reevaluated twice 6 months after treatment. The natural pregnancy rates were estimated by telephone interview between 1 and 2 years after treatment. RESULT(S): In the surgery group, sperm counts improved significantly after microsurgical varicocelectomy. In the drug group, however, sperm parameters did not significantly improve after treatment. Natural pregnancy rates were 60.0% in the surgery group, 34.5% in the drug group, and 18.7% in the observation group. The natural pregnancy rate of the surgery group was higher than the other groups, and there were statistically significant differences among the three groups. CONCLUSION(S): Surgical treatment is the best option for management of subclinical varicocele. Copyright 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the improvement of seminal characteristics and pregnancy rates after microsurgical varicocelectomy in men with subclinical varicocele. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: University infertility clinic. PATIENT(S): One hundred forty-three patients with a subclinical left-sided varicocele. INTERVENTION(S): Patients who agreed to microsurgical varicocelectomy (n = 25, surgery group), medical treatment with L-carnitine (n = 93 drug group), and those who did not agree to any treatment (n = 25, observation group) were enrolled. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Semen characteristics were reevaluated twice 6 months after treatment. The natural pregnancy rates were estimated by telephone interview between 1 and 2 years after treatment. RESULT(S): In the surgery group, sperm counts improved significantly after microsurgical varicocelectomy. In the drug group, however, sperm parameters did not significantly improve after treatment. Natural pregnancy rates were 60.0% in the surgery group, 34.5% in the drug group, and 18.7% in the observation group. The natural pregnancy rate of the surgery group was higher than the other groups, and there were statistically significant differences among the three groups. CONCLUSION(S): Surgical treatment is the best option for management of subclinical varicocele. Copyright 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors: Taylor P Kohn; Samuel J Ohlander; Jake S Jacob; Tina M Griffin; Larry I Lipshultz; Alexander W Pastuszak Journal: Curr Urol Rep Date: 2018-05-17 Impact factor: 3.092
Authors: Nannan Thirumavalavan; Jason M Scovell; Adithya Balasubramanian; Taylor P Kohn; Byung Ji; Asad Hasan; Alexander W Pastuszak; Larry I Lipshultz Journal: Urology Date: 2018-07-05 Impact factor: 2.649