G. Belloli et al., FERTILITY RATES AFTER SUCCESSFUL CORRECTION OF VARICOCELE IN ADOLESCENCE AND ADULTHOOD, European journal of pediatric surgery, 5(4), 1995, pp. 216-218
Vast epidemiologic studies have shown that varicocele becomes manifest
at the beginning of sexual maturation and its incidence gradually inc
reases in patients between 10-16 years. This percentage is 16-18% in a
dolescents and is comparable to that of the adult male population. Sin
ce varicocele first appears in early adolescence and its gonadotoxic e
ffect increases with age, the possibility of improved fertility rate w
ith early varicocelectomy has been suggested. We report the results of
a comparative follow-up study to value the efficacy of surgical corre
ction in two groups of adolescent and adult patients. Our study shows
that early recognition and treatment of a severe varicocele provide a
higher fertility rate and can prevent the reduced fertility rate assoc
iated with delayed varicocelectomy.