Impact of active case-finding on the diagnosis and therapy of pediatric varicocele.

A pilot study of active case-finding identified asymptomatic varicocele in 78 of 791 consecutively examined schoolboys, resulting in an elevenfold increase in admissions for this condition. Patients diagnosed through the program were younger (p = 0.01) and more likely to have low grade varicocele (p = 0.09) than those treated before the program. Active case-finding and early correction of pediatric varicocele may be important in the prevention of postpubertal testicular dysfunction.