The European Academy of Andrology (EAA) ultrasound study on healthy, fertile men: Scrotal ultrasound reference ranges and associations with clinical, seminal, and biochemical characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Scrotal color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) still suffers from lack of standardization. Hence, the European Academy of Andrology (EAA) has promoted a multicenter study to assess the CDUS characteristics of healthy fertile men (HFM) to obtain normative parameters. OBJECTIVES: To report and discuss the scrotal organs CDUS reference ranges and characteristics in HFM and their associations with clinical, seminal, and biochemical parameters. METHODS: A cohort of 248 HFM (35.3 ± 5.9years) was studied, evaluating, on the same day, clinical, biochemical, seminal, and scrotal CDUS following Standard Operating Procedures. RESULTS: The CDUS reference range and characteristics of the scrotal organs of HFM are reported here. CDUS showed a higher accuracy than physical examination in detecting scrotal abnormalities. Prader orchidometer (PO)- and US-measured testicular volume (TV) were closely related. The US-assessed TV with the ellipsoid formula showed the best correlation with the PO-TV. The mean TV of HFM was ~ 17 ml. The lowest reference limit for right and left testis was 12 and 11 ml, thresholds defining testicular hypotrophy. The highest reference limit for epididymal head, tail, and vas deferens was 12, 6, and 4.5 mm, respectively. Mean TV was associated positively with sperm concentration and total count and negatively with gonadotropins levels and pulse pressure. Subjects with testicular inhomogeneity or calcifications showed lower sperm vitality and concentration, respectively, than the rest of the sample. Sperm normal morphology and progressive motility were positively associated with epididymal head size/vascularization and vas deferens size, respectively. Increased epididymis and vas deferens sizes were associated with MAR test positivity. Decreased epididymal tail homogeneity/vascularization were positively associated with waistline, which was negatively associated with intratesticular vascularization. CDUS varicocele was detected in 37.2% of men and was not associated with seminal or hormonal parameters. Scrotal CDUS parameters were not associated with time to pregnancy, number of children, history of miscarriage. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings will help in better understanding male infertility pathophysiology, improving its management.

Seminal mast cells in infertile asthenozoospermic males.

This work aimed to assess the possible association between the presence of seminal mast cells and asthenozoospermia. One hundred and seventy-six male subjects were investigated: group (Gr)1 (n=46) normozoospermic fertile controls, Gr2 (n=62) idiopathic asthenozoospermia, Gr3 (n=32) asthenozoospermia with scrotal varicocele and Gr4 (n=36) asthenozoospermia with leucocytospermia. Four smear slides were prepared for each semen sample to be stained with toluidine blue-pyronin to detect mast cells. A significant increase was shown in mast cell-positive samples among varicocele-associated and idiopathic asthenozoospermic patients in comparison with fertile controls. Seminal mast cells were also detected at higher frequency among smokers and in age group over 40 years. It is concluded that mast cells and their products may play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of asthenozoospermia, possibly proposing a new goal for medical treatment of infertile males to pursue. In addition, this concept may in a way detain smoking as a cause of male infertility considering the clear abundance of mast cells in semen samples of smokers.

Urethral substitution using vein graft for hypospadias repair.

OBJECTIVE: Complex hypospadias surgery requires abundant and stretchable tissues for urethroplasty. Genital skin is ideal for this purpose but is often unavailable in re-do cases. Extragenital tissues have their drawbacks such as the limited length of buccal and bladder mucosa, and contracture of skin grafts. Tubularization and on-lay techniques comprise one or two longitudinal suture lines that are the source of complications. We investigate the possibility of using a saphenous vein graft to construct a long, wide, stretchable and pre-tubularized neourethra that is not compromised by the longitudinal suture line. PATIENT AND METHOD: A male patient with proximal hypospadias for which surgical correction had failed underwent the operation. The patient had a penoscrotal meatus and was circumcised. A saphenous vein graft was passed through a tunnel created on the ventral aspect of the penis, and was anastomosed to the urethra proximally and the distal opening of the tunnel at the tip of the penis. RESULTS: After 12 months, the patient had a forward stream, no dilatation of the neourethra, and no penile curvature upon morning erection (as reported by the parents). CONCLUSION: This initial experience with saphenous vein urethroplasty shows that the technique is feasible, and may provide a reliable and practical alternative to the current techniques.

Laparoscopy-assisted pelvi-scrotal vasovasostomy.

Iatrogenic obstruction of the vas deferens within the inguinal canal can be managed by direct on-site vasovasostomy. However, in cases with large defect of the vas, the anastomosis may be under tension. Dissecting through the site of a previous hernia repair is tedious, and may lead to recurrence of the hernia. The present work reports an, first of a kind, alternative technique that avoids the latter drawbacks. Fifteen cases were operated upon. Under laparoscopic vision, the pelvic vas was dissected and the lateral-most end was clipped, cut and extruded from the abdomen through a port in the external inguinal ring. End-to-end vasovasostomy and microsurgical anastomosis for the vasal vessels were performed, bridging the retrieved stump of the pelvic vas with the scrotal vas. There were positive results in the form of sperm count ranging from 1.5 to 15 million ml(-1), an average of 7.25 (SD 5.44) in nine of 15 cases (60%), within the first 6 months following surgery. "Pelvi-scrotal vasovasostomy" can be offered as a cost-effective and successful alternative or supplement to intracytoplasmic sperm injection, for cases with iatrogenic large defects of the vas deferens within the inguinal canal.