Ectopic testis: an experience of a tertiary-level urology center at Upper Egypt

Rabea Ahmed Gadelkareem,Mahmoud Mohammed Osman,Nasreldin Mohammed,Hisham Mokhtar Hammouda,Ahmed Mohamed Moeen,Ahmed Reda,Ahmed Abdelhamid Shahat,Mahmoud Farouk Abughanima,Osama Mansour,Ahmed Abdelaziz Elderwy,Mohamed Farouk Abdelhafez

doi:10.1186/s43159-020-00038-8

Rabea Ahmed Gadelkareem, Mahmoud Mohammed Osman + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s43159-020-00038-8

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Abstract

BackgroundTesticular ectopia is defined as a testis which is located away from the normal pathway of testicular descent and outside its ipsilateral hemiscrotum. Controversies have been raised about considering the abdominal and inguinal ectopic testes as undescended ones. Our purpose was to review our center’s experience with the diagnosis and management of testicular ectopia focusing on the inguinal ectopic testis. Retrospectively, we studied the clinical and surgical characteristics of a case series of testicular ectopia which was managed in our center during July 2001–June 2016.ResultsOut of 1132 patients with undescended testes, 44 cases (3.9%) had testicular ectopia. Twenty-three cases (mean age = 5.15 ± 5.79 years) fulfilled the criteria of inguinal ectopic testis. Clinically, testes were relatively mobile and superficial. Surgically, they were located in the superficial inguinal pouch, had relatively long spermatic cords, and commonly had average rather than small sizes. The other ectopic 21 cases (mean age = 10.56 ± 6.92 years) were perineal, anterior abdominal wall, femoral, prepubic, and transverse testes in 7 (33.3%), 4 (19%), 4 (19%), 3 (14.3%), and 3 (14.3%) cases, respectively. Congenital inguinal hernia was the commonest associated anomaly (22.7%). All cases were treated surgically with only 1 case of testicular atrophy (2.3%).ConclusionsTesticular ectopia is rare with relatively delayed presentations. Different anatomical sites have been reported including the superficial inguinal pouch and anterior abdominal wall with variable complexities and controversies. The inguinal ectopic testis is the most controversial, but it might be characterized from other entities based on certain clinical and surgical criteria.

Highlights

Testicular ectopia is defined as a testis which is located away from the normal pathway of testicular descent and outside its ipsilateral hemiscrotum
44 cases (3.9%) had inguinal or non-inguinal testicular ectopia (Tables 1, 2, and 3)
Inguinal ectopic testis was the diagnosis in 23 cases which fulfilled the clinical and surgical criteria with 2 cases only were located subcutaneous in the inguinal region (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Testicular ectopia is defined as a testis which is located away from the normal pathway of testicular descent and outside its ipsilateral hemiscrotum. Our purpose was to review our center’s experience with the diagnosis and management of testicular ectopia focusing on the inguinal ectopic testis. Testicular ectopia is a very rare congenital anomaly of testicular descent While it represents about 5–10% of the extrascrotal testicular locations, it has been reported as a cardinal contributor to the differential diagnosis of the clinical term “empty scrotum” [1,2,3]. It is defined as a testis which is located away from the normal pathway of testicular descent and outside the ipsilateral. The question is whether the inguinal ectopic testis could be characterized based on the available clinical and surgical criteria

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