[4 years' experience with combined hormonal treatment of cryptorchism].

86 patients aged 9 months to 15 years (means = 4.8) having 102 cryptorchid testes were treated with either LHRH nasal spray or with a combination of LHRH and HCG. The immediate success rate after the termination of treatment was 74%. The follow-up showed that 65% of the testes were still descended after the critical period had elapsed. An open processus vaginalis was found in 74% (20/27) while pathological changes of the epididymis (64%) (7/11) and testis "reflexus" (48%) (13/27) were frequently encountered in unsuccessfully treated patients. Furthermore, the above grouping of patients displayed typical histological changes associated with cryptorchidism, namely an impaired number of germ cells (0.14 S/T median values) and atrophy of the Leydig cells. In almost all of the patients classified as treated unsuccessfully, there was a definite improvement in the position of the gonad, thus facilitating subsequent surgery.