Abstract
Varicocele, a vascular event, is associated with infertility due to testicular damage that causes abnormal spermatogenesis in males. The goal of this study is to ascertain the diagnostic significance of scrotal color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) by measuring peak systolic value (PSV) and resistive index (RI) of the arteries supplying blood to the testis and their association with semen quality attributes. Sixty prospective patients (age: 20-50 years) undergoing microsurgical varicocelectomy at a teaching hospital were included in the study. Semen parameters and CDUS were recorded and testicular blood flow was determined as PSV and RI of subcapsular artery and intraparenchymal artery of the testes. Nonparametric statistics was applied to test the correlation/association of the semen quality with the PSV, RI, and other variables. Results revealed a significant negative correlation (r = -0.28; p < 0.05) between progressive motility of spermatozoa and resistive index of the intraparenchymal arterial blood flow. Furthermore, it was noticed that the progressive motility of spermatozoa was tended to be negatively correlated (r = -0.236) with resistive index of subcapsular arterial blood flow. In conclusion, this study has revealed that progressive motility of sperms has correlation with the intraparenchymal blood flow of testes. The progressive motility of sperms could be correlated with RI of testicular blood flow. The apparent lack of association between diameter of varicocele vein and semen quality signifies the need of investigating some other factors that may be involved in pathogenicity of varicocele. The diagnostic value of CDUS may be carefully interpreted and clinically correlated in assessment of severity of varicocele.
Highlights
Varicocele, a common cause of infertility in males, affects 15% male population in general and 21-39% in subfertile men [1,2,3]
It has been found that semen quality parameters were negatively associated with grade of varicocele [6] and were improved after successful microsurgical varicocelectomy [7]
No significant correlation was observed between diameters of varicocele veins (Figure 1) both at lying and at standing positions with parameters of semen quality (Table 3)
Summary
Varicocele, a common cause of infertility in males, affects 15% male population in general and 21-39% in subfertile men [1,2,3]. Its pathophysiology is not clear, it is characterized by progressive testicular damage, reduced testicular volume, and Leydig cell dysfunction [4]. It is becuase poor venous hemodynamics causes retrograde flow in testicular veins which interferes with thermoregulatory mechanisms in spermatic cord. This can lead to various anomalies associated with varicocele like decreased testosterone synthesis and spermatogenesis. It has been found that semen quality parameters were negatively associated with grade of varicocele [6] and were improved after successful microsurgical varicocelectomy [7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
