title: Clinical study of varicocele by sequential scrotal scintigraphy.
abstract: Sequential scrotal scintigraphy was used to study testicular blood flow in 122 patients with clinically diagnosed varicocele. The sensitivity of scrotal scintigraphy was 91.7% on the whole sequential images. The late-phase image was superior in sensitivity to that of the early-phase images. The difference in time between the arrival of radioactivity in the iliac artery and in the pampiniform plexus grew shorter with increasing grade of varicocele. Time-activity curves were classified into four patterns. One type (Type 3), which was more frequently observed in grade II and grade III varicocele than grade I varicocele, showed a decreased arterial perfusion of the left side lesion. It is concluded that scintigraphic analysis using both sequential images and time-activity curves is not only highly representative of the grade of clinically palpable varicocele, but also provides a better understanding of local hemodynamics in the scrotum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suga
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ariyoshi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sakatoku
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takihara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012611:Scrotum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014646:Varicocele / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*