ROLE OF THERMOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF UNDESCENDED TESTES

Objectives: The location of an undescended testis is important for the choice of therapy. Ultrasonography cannot serve as a stand-alone scre ening method in the management of the undescended testis because of it s limited sensitivity and accuracy. The aim of this study was to clari fy the diagnostic value of thermography in the patients with undescend ed testes. Methods: We evaluated prospectively 28 patients with 36 und escended testes from January 1995 to December 1996. The patients' ages ranged from 16 to 39 months with a mean age of 26.3 +/- 8.2 months. I n addition to physical palpation by a pediatric surgeon, ultrasonograp hy and thermography were performed for screening the locations of reta ined testes. Results: The diagnostic rates were 63.9% (23/36) by palpa tion, 65.7% (23/35) by ultrasonography and 54.5% (18/33) by thermograp hy. The results of the three diagnostic methods showed no significant difference by Fisher's exact test. Of the 17 higher located testes (in guinal canal and above external ring) 7 were palpable, 8 were identifi ed by ultrasonography, 10 were detected by thermography. Of the 7 nonp alpable testes and testes not detected by ultrasonography, 5, includin g 2 intra-abdominal testes, were identified by thermography. Conclusio n: It is suggested that thermography can play a role in locating high undescended testes which are nonpalpable and not detected by ultrasono graphy.