[General characteristics of the spermatozoa in oligozoospermic men with and without clinical varicocele].
Patients with oligozoospermia show a reduction in the semen quality, independent of the etiology of the disturbance.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the role of the varicocele in the decrease of the semen quality in oligozoospermic men.


METHODS
Ten patients with left clinical varicocele (termed PCV) and 21 patients without this entity (termed PSV) attended in a private laboratory from Petrópolis, RJ, were investigated. Sperm count, vitality, motility, and morphology of spermatozoa were examined and the results were compared between them and a control group consisting of 15 patients without clinical varicocele and with normal spermiogram.


RESULTS
PCV and PSV had showed significant decrease in the vitality (43.9% and 34.9% versus 73.0% in the control group), grade (a) (5.3% and 2.4% versus 32.4% and grade (d) (76.7% and 83.8% versus 44.9%) of sperm progression and in the percentage of oval sperms (25.5% and 22.9% versus 61.2%), amorphous head (25.4% and 23.8% versus 12.5%) and other anomalies (23.8% and 30.5% versus 13.0%). PCV had also showed significant difference in the percentage of tapered sperm (10.9% versus 1.3%), whereas PSV had showed significant difference in the grade (b) of sperm motility (11.0% versus 22.0%), both in regard to the control group. Between PCV and PSV had not been found significant differences.


CONCLUSIONS
Varicocele reduces the semen quality in oligozoospermic men, but this reduction also occurs in oligozoospermia of any etiology.
Andrade-Rocha
F T
FT
Laboratório Dr. Homero Soares Ramos, Departamento de Reprodução Humana e Andrologia, Petrópolis, RJ.
De Carvalho
P P
PP
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000209:etiology*; D013076:Sperm Count; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities; D014646:Varicocele / Q000150:complications*