Does vasectomy predispose to osteoporosis?
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether vasectomy, which causes immunological and histological changes to the testes and changes to the hypothalamo-pituitary axis, could influence bone mineral density (BMD) and predispose to osteoporosis.


METHODS
From patients referred to the Bone Densitometry Clinic, the BMD of L1-L4 and of the hip was analysed in 25 vasectomized men and compared with that in age-matched controls, ensuring that both groups had no secondary causes which might predispose to osteoporosis.


RESULTS
In the spine, the mean (standard deviation) BMD was 1.00 (0.19) g/cm2 for the vasectomized men and 0.96 (0.14) g/cm2 for the controls. In the hip (femoral neck and total, respectively) the means were 0.79 g/cm2 and 0.90 g/cm2 for the vasectomized men and 0.72 g/cm2 and 0.96 g/cm2 for the controls. None of the differences were statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
This study does not support the hypothesis that vasectomy may be a risk factor for osteoporosis.
Byrne
P A
PA
East Glamorgan NHS Trust, Pontypridd, UK.
Evans
W D
WD
Rajan
K T
KT
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000502:physiology; D006615:Hip / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014659:Vasectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*