Weight of the testes in Northwest Indian adults

Three hundred twenty-five pairs of testes were obtained from northwest Indian subjects of Chandigarh zone aged 18 to 80 years, on whom medicolegal postmortems had been performed by the senior author. The weight of each testis along with epididymis was recorded on a single pan electric balance. The mean weight of the right testis was 17.18 ± 4.32g in 18-20-year-old subjects, and increased steadily to 19.44 ± 4.67 g in 41-50-year-old subjects. The weight decreased thereafter, to 17.77 ± 4.75 g in the age group of 51-60 years and 17.57 ± 5.10 g in subjects above 60 years. The weight of the left testis was about one gram less than that of the right but followed the same age-related pattern. To calculate the weight of testis from its measurement, a regression formula was developed for each age group. The calculated weight by the regression formula and the actual weight were almost the same (P > 0.05). The formula could be effectively used to determine the weight of a testis in a living subject by taking testicular measurements (length, side-to-side, antero-posterior) with a sliding caliper. The procedure seems to be preferable than estimating the volume of testis by an orchidometer, which introduces considerable subjective error.