Treatment of varicocele and male fertility

Ninety-six patients with varicocele were followed for 4 years in a prospective randomized study. Seventeen patients were excluded from the study in accordance with exclusion criteria. In 26 patients varicocele was treated surgically and 12 patients were treated either by sclerosation or embolization. Forty-one patients with varicocele had no therapy. In 54 patients oligoasthenozoospermia and in 25 normozoospermia was certified. In the group of patients without treatment, the pregnancy rate in the women was higher (22/41, or 53.7%) than in the group receiving treatment (13/38, or 34.2%). The difference was not statistically significant. After therapy, sperm concentration increased and sperm motility improved also. The differences were not statistically significant. The study showed that varicocele therapy bears no influence on male fertility.