Benefit of varicocelectomy in infertile men with varicocele

Background: Varicocelectomy does improve semen parameters and pregnancy rates in men with infertility. Various studies have shown the extent of benefit and also shown that some may not benefit. It is important to counsel the patients about the same. The present study was done to determine how much varicocelectomy is beneficial to infertile men with varicocele.Methods: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted on 25 patients undergoing varicocelectomy for infertility at St. John Medical College Hospital, Bangalore from 1st June 2013 to 31st May 2014. Clinical data, semen analysis, scrotal imaging was done and postoperatively semen analysis was done after three months. The data was analysed to find out how much was the benefit of varicocelectomy.Results: Twenty-five patients underwent varicocelectomy, all of them showed improvement of semen parameters. Fifteen of them had more than 50% of improvement. This showed that varicocelectomy is beneficial to about 60% of patients.Conclusions: Varicocelectomy is beneficial to infertile men with palpable varicocele and abnormal semen parameters.

Optical coherence tomography: a novel modality for scrotal imaging

Background: For patients with nonobstructive azoospermia,sperm retrieval rates remain modest. We describe the use ofoptical coherence tomography to improve retrieval rates and todecrease tissue destruction.Methods: Four patients underwent diagnostic testicular biopsyand imaging with the Niris optical coherence tomography de -vice. We performed a descriptive comparison between optic alcoherence tomographic images and conventional histology.Results: The measured seminiferous tubule diameter differed by16 μm between comparative imaging from optical coherencetomography and conventional histology using hematoxylin andeosin staining.Conclusion: We illustrate the usefulness of optical coherencetomography in the setting of testicular biopsy and the managementof nonobstructive azoospermia.Contexte : Chez les patients atteints d'azoospermie non obstructive,les taux de collecte de spermatozoïdes demeurent modestes.Nous décrivons le recours à une tomographie optiquecohérente pour améliorer les taux de collecte et réduire ladestruction tissulaire.Méthodes : Quatre patients ont subi une biopsie testiculaire diagnostiqueet une épreuve d'imagerie à l'aide d'un appareil Nirisde tomographie optique cohérente. Une comparaison descriptivea été effectuée entre les images obtenues par tomographieoptique cohérente et les résultats des épreuves histologiquesstandard.Résultats : La différence dans le diamètre des tubules séminifèresmesuré par tomographie optique cohérente et par coloration histologiqueà l'hématoxyline-éosine n'était que de 16 μm.Conclusion : Nous présentons une étude descriptive illustrant l’uti -lité de la tomographie optique cohérente pendant une biopsietesticulaire en vue de la prise en charge d'une azoospermie nonobstructive.