STEREOLOGY OF THE HUMAN EPIDIDYMIS IN DIF FERENT AGE-GROUPS - FETUS, CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, ADULTS AND ELDERLY

The importance of abnormalities of function and epididymis structure i n the etiology of male infertility is still not well understood. We st udied 52 individuals distributed in five age groups: fetuses, children , adolescents, adults and the elderly. The region of the body of epidi dymis was obtained by autopsy and immediately fixed by immersion in a solution of 10 % buffered formaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and histo logically prepared. The samples were observed under an optic microscop e. Test-points were counted in 12 random microscopic fields with the M 42 test-system. The following stereological parameters were determined : ductal area, volumetric densities (Vv) of the duct, smooth muscle, connective tissue, epithelial duct and blood vessels. The main results distinguished by those whose averages were statistically significant (p < 0.05), showed that the ductal area is 9.7 times greater in the ad olescent/adult/elderly group than the children's group. The Vv of the lumen of the epididymis duct occupies 11.7 % of the epididymis body in the fetal period, 5.3 % in the child and in individuals after puberty this figures reaches more than 15 %. The Vv of smooth muscle occupies 28.3 % of the body of the epididymis in the fetus and 35.9 % in child ren, but after puberty this figures stays around 22 %. The Vv of the c onnective tissue occupies 26 % in prenatal life, 37 % in children, and after puberty these figures range from 21 to 27.5 %. Comparing the re sults of the adult group with that of the elderly group there is an in crease in the volumetric density of the connective tissue by 18.1 %. I n conclusion, the epididymal duct area and the Vv of the ductal lumen, smooth muscle and connective tissue were significant comparing the di fferent groups. However, the quantitative relative differences of the duct's epithelium and the blood vessels were not significant comparing these groups. The study of quantitative aspects of the normal human e pididymis can increase our knowledge about male fertility.