[Morphologico-morphometric relief of the testis in Down's syndrome]

Four cases of Down's syndrome in new-born have been thoroughly studied on the histological and morphometrical point of view. It is outlined the presence in the seminiferous tubules of abnormal spermatogonia, sometimes multinucleated and characterized by a prominent nucleolus. The Authors emphasize the conspicuous number of these hypertrophic (H) spermatogonia (usually very scanty in normal new-born) never reported in the Down's syndrome before, whose significance is not easy to explain: if they represent anomalous forms of spermatogonial cells, related to the malformative condition, or a premalignant aspect is then discussed. Morphometrical measurements of the average tubular diameter (D.T.M.) and spermatogonia content have been calculated; furthermore a microprocessor system is employed for evaluating nuclear diameter, perimeter and area not only in H spermatogonia, but also in the other germ cells observed (A and P).