title: Percutaneous treatment of varicocele.
abstract: Varicocele is a common finding in adolescents and adult men. Its association with male infertility has been well documented: varicoceles are reported to be present in 20-40% of infertile men. It has been demonstrated that varicocele correction leads to an improvement in the quality of semen in most cases. Percutaneous sclerotherapy is an established treatment method for varicocele performed on an outpatient basis. In our report we review our experience with venographic study and transcatheter sclerotherapy based on 560 cases of infertile patients with varicocele. Our study confirms that percutaneous therapy of varicocele may lead to improved spermatogenesis in the majority of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trombetta
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liguori
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bucci
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciciliato
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Belgrano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002404:Catheterization; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010690:Phlebography / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015911:Sclerotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014646:Varicocele / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*