[Ultrasonography in the examination of patients with cryptorchism]

The paper is concerned with analysis of the results of sonography (by the grey scale), used for investigation of 83 cryptorchid patients. There were 106 undescended testes, of them 54 were not determined by palpation. All the patients were operated upon. Sonographic imaging of the intra-abdominal testis was obtained in 3 cases only. Coincidence of intraoperative findings with the results of sonographic investigation in patients with inguinal cryptorchidism were observed in 68%. The main cause of diagnostic divergence was marked hypoplasia and low elasticity of the retained testis. A characteristic feature was echo-negative imaging of the testis in children, and in patients over 15--echo-positive imaging. This difference in types of the echographic picture is considered to be a result of changes, developing in testes depending on a period of retention. This method supplements clinical findings with information or the testicular state.