title: Azoospermia due to testicular amyloidosis in a patient with familial Mediterranean fever.
abstract: We describe a patient suffering from familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) who presented to our clinic with secondary infertility of 2 years due to amyloid A amyloidosis. His spermiogram disclosed azoospermia. A testicular biopsy revealed hyalinized tubules devoid of full spermatogenesis and containing abundant amyloid, confirmed by Congo red stain. We suggest that testicular amyloidosis be taken into consideration when dealing with azoospermic FMF patients. In view of the progressive nature of amyloid accumulation in the testis we propose to follow routinely the spermiogram of FMF patients with renal amyloidosis. Furthermore, consideration of sperm cryopreservation is suggested in these cases. In FMF patients with azoospermia consideration of testicular biopsy is recommended as early as possible in order to increase the chance of sperm retrieval.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haimov-Kochman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prus
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ben-Chetrit
mesh_terms: D000682:Amyloid / Q000032:analysis; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D001021:Aortic Valve; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D001706:Biopsy; D010505:Familial Mediterranean Fever / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013733:Testicular Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D013737:Testis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid