Varicocelectomy: 986 cases in a twelve-year study

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Over a twelve-year period, surgical correction of varicocele was performed on 986 selected subfertile men. They were followed up for at least two years after surgery. Semen quality was improved in 70 per cent, and 53 per cent of the wives became pregnant. Statistically, the results were better in terms of semen quality improvement and pregnancy for patients who had preoperative sperm counts over 10 million per milliliter (85 per cent improved, 70 per cent pregnancy rate) than for patients who had preoperative sperm counts of less than 10 million per milliliter (35 per cent improved, 27 per cent pregnancy rate). The empirical use of postoperative human chorionic gonadotropin therapy in this latter group improved results significantly (55 per cent improved, 45 per cent pregnancy rate).