Is there a relationship between varicocele and testosterone levels?

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this work was to study the relationship between presence of varicocele and testosterone serum levels in adulthood. METHODS: A comparative, cross-sectional study of 387 men who consulted for erectile dysfunction. Age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes (DM), and presence of varicocele were related to testosterone levels through uni- and multi-variate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 248 cases (70.8%) had no varicocele, 46 (13.1%) had grade I varicocele, 36 (10.3%) grade II, and 20 (5.7%) grade III. The mean total testosterone levels were 4.77 ng/mL in the non-varicocele group and 4.34 ng/mL in the varicocele group (p = .91), while free testosterone levels were 69.81 and 73.24 pg/mL (p = .18), respectively. In the multivariate analysis, BMI> = 30 was related to low total testosterone levels (OR: 2.94, p < .001) and low free testosterone (OR: 2.01, p = .01), while advanced age associated with low levels of free testosterone (OR: 1.04, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: We were not able to establish a relationship between the presence of varicocele and decreased serum testosterone levels. Other factors already described, such as obesity and age, were related to low levels of total and free testosterone.

[Paratesticular sarcoma: An infrequent genitourinary tumor]. / Un tumor genitourinario infrecuente: sarcomas paratesticulares.

OBJECTIVE: To expose the features related to the diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of paratesticular sarcomas, through the presentation of three cases with different histologies. METHODS: Description of the clinical cases, surgical management, and pathological results of the surgical specimens. RESULTS: We present three cases of paratesticular sarcomas, one case being a rhabdomyosarcoma and two liposarcomas. Two patients underwent a single successful surgery, while the third one required a second intervention after recurrence. Today all three patients are free of disease. CONCLUSIONS: Malignant paratesticular sarcomas are infrequent neoplasias in urology. It is essential that the urologist is aware of this possibility when faced with a paratesticular tumor, since radicalness of surgery will be the most decisive factor in the success of the treatment. Adjuvant therapies must be individualized in each case, and the follow-up after surgery should be close, given the poor evolution of these tumors in many cases.