Varicocelectomy as therapy in male infertility: a study of 504 cases

During a 10-year period 504 selected subfertile men underwent surgical correction of varicocele and had a followup of at least 1 year. Improved semen quality was reported in 71 per cent of the men and 55 per cent of the wives became pregnant. Statistically, results were better in terms of semen quality improvement and pregnancy in patients who had preoperative sperm counts greater than 10 million per cc (88 per cent improved, 68 per cent pregnant) compared to patients who had preoperative sperm counts of less than 10 million per cc (33 per cent improved, 23 per cent pregnant). The impiric use of postoperative human chorionic gonadotropin therapy in the latter group of patients improves results significantly (56 per cent improved, 44 per cent pregnant).