Comparison of Doppler examination and retrograde spermatic venography in the diagnosis of varicocele.

The accuracy of the Doppler stethoscope is compared with that of retrograde spermatic venography in the diagnosis of varicocele in 39 subfertile men. In the 38 cases in which left-sided venography was successful, there was a good correlation between the radiographic and Doppler results in 33 cases (87%). The five failures were all false-negative results in patients without clinically diagnosed varicoceles. In the 33 cases in which right-sided venography was successful, there was a good correlation between the radiographic and Doppler results in 17 patients (52%). This low sensitivity on the right side appears to be a minor drawback, because right-sided reflux almost always occurs in conjunction with left-sided reflux, and therefore varicocele would be diagnosed in these patients despite the false-negative Doppler finding. Unlike venography, the Doppler study is noninvasive, inexpensive, and easy to perform. We conclude that it should be part of all studies of varicocele and infertility and that it may prove sufficiently accurate for use in controlled studies of the effectiveness of varicocelectomy and the role of subclinical varicocele in the pathogenesis of infertility.