Elastography to assess the effect of varicoceles on testes: a prospective controlled study.

Varicoceles are the most common and treatable cause of male infertility. The pathophysiology of varicoceles primarily includes elevated temperature, adrenal hormone reflux, gonadotoxic metabolite reflux, altered testicular blood flow, antisperm antibody formation and oxidative stress. The diagnosis of a varicocele is mainly clinical. However, a Doppler ultrasound is used to obtain clinical data and to more accurately measure testicular size. Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) is an additional technique to simultaneously show different areas with different densities in a colour-coded image and a B-mode or greyscale image. This can be used for structural analysis of testicular tissue and has become an additional method for detecting pathologic tissue alterations. We enrolled 30 patients who had clinically diagnosed with left varicoceles and male infertility (Group 1). All patients were evaluated by history taking, physical examination, a spermiogram and an endocrine profile. Thirty control patients (Group 2) were randomly chosen from patients who had applied to an andrology clinic for infertility; their physical examinations and laboratory results showed normal findings. Mean elastography results were significantly different between the groups, and significantly lower in patients who had varicoceles. The relationship between hormonal profiles and elastography parameters was calculated as statistically significant negative correlations between FSH and elasticity. Additionally, a negative correlation was determined between varicocele grade and elasticity of testes. In conclusion, our prospective study showed that ARFI imaging may be more useful than palpation for determining early damage of testicular structure by varicoceles.

Relationship between hearing loss and sexual dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: Deafness may be one of the factors that leads to a change in sexual function. This study aimed to assess sexual function, in particular erectile dysfunction, in male patients with hearing loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied two groups: (1) adult men with acquired, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss, and (2) healthy, adult, married men demonstrated to have normal hearing levels, as the control group. Sexual function was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Functions questionnaire, and quality of life using the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the groups regarding the International Index of Erectile Functions questionnaire results (p <0.001), both for each of the five questionnaire domain scores and for the total score. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that men with mild or moderate sensorineural hearing loss have poorer sexual health.

No evidence of depression, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction following penile fracture.

There is a gap in the literature about psychological status of patients following penile fracture surgery. We aimed to assess the long-term psychological status of penile fracture patients who have been treated by immediate surgical repair. A total of 32 patients with penile fracture have been treated surgically at our center. These 32 patients and 30 healthy control subjects were included in the study. All participants have completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Glombok-Rust Inventory of Satisfaction Scale (GRISS), and the premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT). The mean age of patients was 30.4 years and the mean body mass index was 27.3 kg m(-2). Sexual intercourse was the most common cause of the fracture. Immediate surgical repair was performed in all cases using a circumferential subcoronal incision and none of the patients had urethral injury intraoperatively. All tears were unilateral with a mean size of 1.5 cm. Only two patients had superficial dorsal vein rupture. At the day of assessment, the mean time elapsed after penile trauma was 15.9±6.3 months (range: 6-23). Only three patients had complications due to penile fracture including minimal penile curvature, penile nodule, and penile pain during intercourse. The mean scores obtained from PEDT, HADS, and GRISS did not show any statistically significant difference between groups. Anxiety, depression, premature ejaculation, and sexual dyssatisfaction levels were similar in both penile fracture patients who underwent immediate surgical repair and healthy control subjects. Immediate surgical repair of corporal ruptures have not shown any harmful psychogenic sequelae on patients with penile fracture.

Relationship between penile size and somatometric parameters in 2276 healthy young men.

The aim of this study was to determine the average penile length of a group of healthy, young Turkish men, and to investigate the relationship between penile length and somatometric parameters in the same group. The flaccid and stretched length and circumference of the penis was measured in a group of 2276 physically normal, young men. The correlation between penile length and weight, height and body mass index (BMI) of the participants was determined by Pearson's analysis. The mean age of the participants was 21.1 ± 3.1 (18-39) years. The mean flaccid, fully stretched and circumferential length of the participants' penises were 8.95 ± 1.04, 13.98 ± 1.58 and 8.89 ± 0.86 cm, respectively. There was a significant relationship between all of these variables (P<0.01). Although weak positive correlations were found between the mean circumference length and BMI, there were no correlations between both the flaccid and stretched lengths and BMI. The penile length must be known to be able to determine the abnormal penile sizes and to make convenient decisions in the counseling and/or treatment of people with short penis concerns. Our study provides mean penile lengths in a large sample of healthy, young Turkish men, and the penile dimensions were found to be weakly correlated with somatometric parameters.