title: Cysts of the ejaculatory system--a treatable cause of recurrent epididymo-orchitis in children.
abstract: The commonest causes of acutely painful scrotum are torsion (of appendix of the testis or the testis itself) and epididymo-orchitis. Exploration is the only way to prove the diagnosis and multiple such procedures are performed in patients with recurrent epididymo-orchitis. The purpose of our study was to investigate the cause of recurrent epididymo-orchitis in pre-pubertal children. Four children, aged three years or less, were investigated for recurrent left epididymo-orchitis. All four had cystic dilatation of the ejaculatory duct in the region of the prostatic utriculus, associated in two children with ectopic opening of the vas in the bladder. Initial ultrasound appeared to be normal in all four patients, a retrospective review of the sonographic films, however, revealed a retrovesical cyst in three of them. The diagnosis was established by a combination of urethroscopy with retrograde contrast study via the utriculus and open vasography. All four cases were treated operatively by a transtrigonal approach. The cyst was excised in each case. In one, a vasovasostomy was performed between the left and the normal right vas; in the other three the left vas was anastomosed to the blind end of the contralateral seminal vesicle. All four are symptom-free at one year follow-up. Cysts of the ejaculatory duct are a treatable cause of recurrent epididymo-orchitis. Pre-pubertal children with recurrent epididymo-orchitis and no obvious underlying cause should have a thorough sonographic examination of the retrovesical region for cystic lesions.
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003560:Cysts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D004543:Ejaculatory Ducts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004823:Epididymitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009920:Orchitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D011859:Radiography; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography