Varicocele has been implicated as a cause in 35%-50% of patients with primary infertility and up to 81% of men with secondary infertility.
Although a large number of reports have shown improvement in the semen parameters after correction of varicocele, other studies have suggested no benefit. We report the first case of azoospermia after surgery in a young infertile male patient with left-sided varicocele and severe oligozoospermia undergoing laparoscopic varicocelectomy. A pregnancy was only achieved with assisted reproductive technology because semen cryopreservation was performed before surgery. In the light of the above, the deterioration of sperm count after varicocele repair in patients with severe oligozoospermia could be due to irreversible impairment of spermatogenesis of such patients, together with the possible temporary damage of the surgical repair. This possible complication could therefore turn the severe oligozoospermia into an indication to perform cryopreservation before surgery, on both clinical and medico-legal grounds. Further research is needed before drawing definitive conclusions regarding the management of varicocele-related severe oligozoospermia.
Written by:
Milone M, Musella M, Fernandez ME, Maietta P, Sasso A, Fernandez LM, Fernandez LV, Milone F. Are you the author?
Marco Milone, Mario Musella, Paola Maietta, Francesco Milone, Department of Advanced Biomedical Science, University of Naples "Federico II", 80131 Naples, Italy.
Reference: World J Clin Cases. 2014 Apr 16;2(4):94-6.
doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i4.94
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24749119
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