Evaluation and treatment of the preadolescent varicocele

Varicocele is the most common surgically correctable cause of male infertility. In adult patients with varicocele and infertility, pregnancy rates following varicocelectomy range as high as 55 per cent in comparison with a pregnancy rate of only 7 per cent in unoperated controls. The initial presentation of varicocele occurs during puberty with the incidence in 13-year-old boys already equivalent to that in the general male population. This occurrence has been referred to as the childhood or adolescent varicocele. Varicocele is a progressive disorder in many if not in all cases, with an obvious individual variation in the time course of progression. The effects of a unilateral lesion are often noted in the contralateral testis. Based upon present knowledge, it is not possible to predict accurately the time course of progression in individual cases of childhood varicocele. However, significant prognostic features in adolescents with varicocele include the following: (1) testicular atrophy, or arrested testicular growth; (2) high-grade varicocele (grade II or III); (3) bilateral lesions; (4) pathologic GnRH stimulation test; and (5) histologic picture of Leydig-cell hyperplasia. The presence of these features either alone or in combination is an indication for treatment in our hands. Unlike adults with varicocele, it is not practical to follow children and adolescents with spermatograms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)