Updated evaluation and intervention of adolescent varicocele / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Some physiological and ethical problems make it difficult to obtain semen samples from adolescents with varicocele (VC) and to directly evaluate their fertility. Therefore we can only rely on indirect methods to assess the influence of VC on the future fertility of the adolescent patients. Most of the VC adolescents may have normal semen parameters in the adulthood. Thus whether and when to intervene in adolescent VC remain a controversy in andrology. Physical examination is the most common method for screening adolescent VC and ultrasonography is very effective for its diagnosis and evaluation. Other important diagnostic indicators include the widely accepted testicular atrophy index, recently proposed peak retrograde venous flow, total testis volume, and scrotal temperature. Based on the latest literature, this review offers some proposals for the evaluation and intervention of adolescent VC.