USE OF COLOR DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY IN THE EVALUATION OF VARICOCELES

Color flow Doppler sonography (CFDS) has been used to evaluate the blo od flow to the testes, because of its ability to visualize small vesse ls with low flow. A total of 39 infertile men, 18 with clinical varico cele and 21 without, were examined using CFDS to assess the clinical u sefulness of this technique. In patients with varicocele, venous diame ter in the pampiniform plexus was greater than 2 mm, whereas those wit hout varicocele showed diameters of less than 1.8 mm. Of 21 patients w ithout varicocele on physical examination, 13 were found to have reflu x by CFDS. According to clinical and CFDS findings, patients were divi ded into five groups: varicocele negative, suspicious subclinical vari cocele, subclinical varicocele, manifest varicocele with Valsalva-indu ced reflux, and manifest varicocele. These data suggest that the CFDS technique is a simple, sensitive and noninvasive modality for the accu rate diagnosis of varicocele.