[Ultrasound characteristics of testicular Leydig cell tumors , , , 1.]

To explore the color Doppler ultrasonic characteristics of testicular Leydig cell tumors (LCT) and improve the clinical diagnosis of the disease.

We retrospectively analyzed 4 cases of testicular LCT diagnosed and treated in our hospital and summarized the experience in the ultrasonic diagnosis of LCT with a review of the relevant literature.

All the 4 testicular LCTs were solitary and quasi-round, 1 in the left and 3 in the right. The smallest mass was 1.8 × 1.5 cm and the largest 3.1 × 2.5 cm, and 2 were complicated by hydrocele of tunica vaginalis. The margins of tumors were distinct in 2 cases and indistinct in 1, and changed from distinct to indistinct in another during the follow-up. Hypoechoes were revealed in all the 4 cases in ultrasonography, 2 with abundant internal blood flow, 1 with abundant peripheral blood flow, and the other with abundant internal blood flow changed from circular blood flow surrounding the mass.

A typical sporadic LCT was ultrasonically manifested as an isolated hypoechoic infracentimetric mass with a clear demarcation from the adjacent pulp. It exhibited intrinsic hypervascularization associated with a typical peripheral rim pattern. Larger lesions more often presented a lobulated shape and intense hypervascularization. Although these ultrasonic characteristics do not reveal the nature of LCT with certainty, they can help the surgeon with the decision on testis-sparing surgery or perhaps even on the active monitoring for the smallest lesions in a population with impaired fertility.