Male gonadal function in Hodgkin's disease before and after treatment.

ABSTRACT

Twenty eight histologically confirmed cases of Hodgkin's disease were evaluates with regard to libido, sperm count, FSH, LH and urinary ketosteroid levels, before and during different stages of chemotherapy along with testicular biopsy on 16 cases. Decrease in libido during therapy improved following treatment, 50% cases who were oligospermic before treatment became azospermic, Serum FSH levels increased significantly (p 0.001) during the course of treatment. There was no significant change in LH and urinary ketosteroid levels (p 0.05). Testicular biopsy, normal initially, showed germ cell aplasia and absence of spermatogenesis after therapy. Drug induced testicular change leads to sterility.