Varicocele in youth.

Thirty boys 8 to 18 years of age seen in a general urologic practice with emphasis on pediatrics had palpable varicoceles. A concomitant finding was that 77 percent of these patients had a smaller testis on the left side. Because the small testis is present before maturity, its size appears due to arrest of testicular growth rather than to atrophy. Surgical correction is advisable when the varicocele is pronounced, the involved testis is distinctly smaller or there is scrotal pain.