While the incidence of clinical varicocele is common in infertile men (about 40%), the reasons why varicocele may affect sperm parameters is still unclear.
In addition, the improvement of fertility after treatment of varicocele is also a subject of debate. The purpose of this review is to get new insight into the physiopathology of varicocele, its impact on sperm parameters and the effectiveness of varicocele treatment on fertility. Treatment is likely to be effective in infertile men with clinical varicocele and impaired spermatogenesis. Even if it does not systematically lead to an improvement in sperm parameters, it may prevent further sperm degradation. In case of non-obstructive azoospermia, few studies reported a slight improvement in the process of spermatogenesis. The critical role of an adequate methodology in order to establish clinical guidelines needs to be stressed. Indeed, the huge intra-individual variability in sperm production makes the usual analysis of sperm parameters inadequate to measure treatment effectiveness. Regarding the assessment of conception, it requires not only well designed and properly sized studies but also a multivariate analysis for weighing predictive factors of success. Thus, an active scientific research is needed to better identify pathogenic agents and appropriately assess the impact of varicocele treatment.
Written by:
Muratorio C, Meunier M, Sonigo C, Massart P, Boitrelle F, Hugues JN. Are you the author?
Service de médecine de la reproduction, hôpital Jean-Verdier, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, avenue du 14-juillet, 93143 Bondy cedex, France; Service de médecine de la reproduction, CHI de Poissy-Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 10, rue du Champ-Gaillard, 78303 Poissy cedex, France.
Reference: Gynecol Obstet Fertil. 2013 Oct 29. pii: S1297-9589(13)00277-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.gyobfe.2013.09.012
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24183580
Article in French.
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