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Reduction in testicular temperature after varicocelectomy in infertile men
E J Wright1, G P Young, M Goldstein
1James Buchanan Brady Foundation, Department of Urology, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, NY 10021, USA.
Objectives:
To study the effects of varicocelectomy on testicular temperature.
Methods:
Testicular skin surface temperature was directly measured with an electronic thermometer calibrated to 0.01 degree C in 119 men before and after microsurgical varicocelectomy and in 45 control patients without varicocele.
Results:
Testicular temperatures in men with varicocele were elevated preoperatively (right side [R]: 34.00 +/- 0.91 degrees C/left side [L]: 34.37 +/- 0.87 degrees C unilateral; R: 34.07 +/- 0.83 degrees C/L: 34.34 +/- 0.85 degrees C bilateral) relative to control patients (R: 33.04 +/- 2.47 degrees C/L: 32.86 +/- 2.52 degrees C) (P < 0.01). Postoperative temperatures were unchanged in the control patients. Testicular temperatures decreased after both bilateral and unilateral varicocelectomy (R: 33.03 +/- 0.85 degrees C/L: 32.84 +/- 1.0 degrees C unilateral; R: 33.27 +/- 1.0 degrees C/L: 33.54 +/- 1.2 degrees C bilateral) to levels nearly identical to those of control patients (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Testicular temperatures were elevated bilaterally in men with both unilateral and bilateral varicoceles. Both unilateral and bilateral microsurgical varicocelectomy results in a bilateral decrease in testicular temperature. These results support the hypothesis that a defect in testicular thermoregulation contributes to the pathophysiology of varicocele and demonstrate, for the first time in humans, the efficacy of varicocelectomy in restoring normal testicular temperatures.