Quantitative analysis by real-time elastosonography for the differential diagnosis of azoospermia: preliminary application / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the quantitative analysis by real-time elastosonography in the differential diagnosis of obstructive azoospermia (OA) and non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We evaluated the elastosonographic images of 200 cases of OA, 300 cases of NOA and 100 normal healthy controls, calculated the strain ratio of the testis to the scrotal skin and the median strain ratio among the three groups, and analyzed the best cut-off point for differentiating OA and NOA by the receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The median strain ratio of NOA was 0.49 +/- 0.43, while that of OA was 0.35 +/- 0.31, with significant difference between the two groups (Z = - 19.173, P = 0.000 < 0.017). According to the results of ROC curve analysis, the area under the curve was 0.857 +/- 0.012 and the best cut-off point for differentiating OA and NOA was 0.395 (sensitivity = 84.5%, specificity = 74.5%, accuracy = 80.5%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Quantitative analysis by real-time elastosonography is a new valuable technique for the differential diagnosis of azoospermia.</p>