16 research outputs found
Significance of sperm characteristics in the evaluation of adolescents, adults and older men with varicocele
Background: No reports have been published about age-related sperm
malformations in varicocele patients. Aim: To investigate the
distribution of abnormal sperm characteristics in adolescents, adults
and older men with varicocele. Setting and Design: Records of semen
analysis of 143 men aged 14 to 53 years who had evident left-sided
varicocele detected by physical examination and confirmed by doppler
sonography were selected. Materials and Methods: Sperm concentration,
vitality, motility, morphology, hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST) and
morphology were measured in adolescent males aged 14 to 20 years
(n=31), men 21 to 30 years (n=48), 31 to 40 years (n=40) and older men
over 40 (n=24) and compared with a control group of fertile men with no
varicocele (n=27) and with a group of infertile men with varicocele
(n=26). Statistical Analysis: One-way analysis of variance and the
Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare varicocele groups. Comparisons
with the control group and infertile group were performed using the
unpaired t-test and the Mann-Whitney test. The discriminating ability
of significant sperm characteristics in evaluating the sperm quality of
varicocele men was also analyzed using receiver operating
characteristics curve to select the cut-off level providing the best
combination of sensitivity and specificity. Results: Varicocele men
displayed similar impairment of vitality, motility and HOST. Sperm
morphology analysis revealed a prevalence of small head, slightly and
severely amorphous head and particularly combined anomalies in the
study groups. Sperm concentration fell within the normal range of the
World Health Organization manual. Differences were not significant
between the study groups and when compared with infertile group ( P
>0.005). However, a comparative study of the varicocele groups and
the infertile group with the control group revealed significant
differences in sperm vitality, motility, HOST, morphologically normal
sperm, pin-headed, tapered and combined anomalies. Morphologically
normal sperm and combined anomalies showed higher accuracy in
identifying poor sperm quality in varicocele men (83.7% and 77.9%, at
cut-off levels of 9% and 38%, respectively). Conclusions: Varicocele
harms equally the sperm characteristics of adolescents, adults and
older men. Apparently, it affects sperm quality more adversely than it
does sperm production
Significance of sperm characteristics in the evaluation of adolescents, adults and older men with varicocele
Background: No reports have been published about age-related sperm
malformations in varicocele patients. Aim: To investigate the
distribution of abnormal sperm characteristics in adolescents, adults
and older men with varicocele. Setting and Design: Records of semen
analysis of 143 men aged 14 to 53 years who had evident left-sided
varicocele detected by physical examination and confirmed by doppler
sonography were selected. Materials and Methods: Sperm concentration,
vitality, motility, morphology, hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST) and
morphology were measured in adolescent males aged 14 to 20 years
(n=31), men 21 to 30 years (n=48), 31 to 40 years (n=40) and older men
over 40 (n=24) and compared with a control group of fertile men with no
varicocele (n=27) and with a group of infertile men with varicocele
(n=26). Statistical Analysis: One-way analysis of variance and the
Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare varicocele groups. Comparisons
with the control group and infertile group were performed using the
unpaired t-test and the Mann-Whitney test. The discriminating ability
of significant sperm characteristics in evaluating the sperm quality of
varicocele men was also analyzed using receiver operating
characteristics curve to select the cut-off level providing the best
combination of sensitivity and specificity. Results: Varicocele men
displayed similar impairment of vitality, motility and HOST. Sperm
morphology analysis revealed a prevalence of small head, slightly and
severely amorphous head and particularly combined anomalies in the
study groups. Sperm concentration fell within the normal range of the
World Health Organization manual. Differences were not significant
between the study groups and when compared with infertile group ( P
>0.005). However, a comparative study of the varicocele groups and
the infertile group with the control group revealed significant
differences in sperm vitality, motility, HOST, morphologically normal
sperm, pin-headed, tapered and combined anomalies. Morphologically
normal sperm and combined anomalies showed higher accuracy in
identifying poor sperm quality in varicocele men (83.7% and 77.9%, at
cut-off levels of 9% and 38%, respectively). Conclusions: Varicocele
harms equally the sperm characteristics of adolescents, adults and
older men. Apparently, it affects sperm quality more adversely than it
does sperm production