Abstract
Testicular microlithiasis (TM) has been defined as 5 or more echogenic petechial foci in a single view of a testicular ultrasound. Most cases are asymptomatic and are only found incidentally when testicular ultrasound is indicated for other conditions. The aim of our study is to evaluate the prevalence of testicular microlithiasis in children with ectopic testis and their association with testicular tumor. Methods:It is a retrospective study involving 8 patients who were diagnosed with TM in the pediatric surgery department of Monastir over a period of 16 years from 2003 to 2019. Results:The average age of children was 6.8 years old. The most common indication for US was cryptorchidism (5 patients); The most common other indications were scrotal pain (1 patient) and testicular mass (1 patient). Two boys had bilateral microlithiasis. We opted for orchidopexy in 6 children with undescended testes. Orchiectomy was indicated for testicular tumour in one case and for testicular regression syndrome in the other case. Two patients had pathologic confirmation of testicular microlithiasis. Patients follow-up was done by tumor marker assay and scrotal Doppler ultrasound. None of these patients developed testicular tumors with mean follow-up of two 2 years. Conclusion: Recent studies found that testicular ultrasonography for cryptorchidism will reveal a 10% incidence of TM in the ectopic testis. The incidence of malignant transformation in a cryptorchid testis associated with microlithiasis is approximately twofold to threefold greater than that of the normal cryptorchid testis. So, we currently recommend the perform intermittent radiologic surveillance for these population.
Published Version
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