Adolescent varicocele: association with somatometric parameters.
BACKGROUND
The developmental changes that occur as a result of puberty have been hypothesized to be important causes of varicocele. Various somatometric parameters were known to affect the occurrence of varicocele during the growth period. We conducted this study in order to examine these relationships and to determine the incidence of varicocele in adolescent males.


METHODS
We evaluated 1,200 healthy males aged 0-19 years for varicocele and correlated it with the following somatometric parameters: age, height, body mass index (BMI), pubic hair distribution, penile length and testicular volume.


RESULTS
Adolescent varicocele was found in 5.6% of the participants. The 13- to 19-year age-group had the highest incidence of varicocele (10.5%). Logistic regression analysis showed that the incidence was positively correlated with age, height and penile length (odds ratio 1.61, 1.04 and 1.37, respectively) and negatively correlated with left testicular volume, BMI and pubic hair distribution (odds ratio 0.87, 0.87 and 0.47, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Varicocele was more prevalent in tall boys with a lower BMI, who had quickly progressed through puberty. Our observations suggest that varicocele is associated with various somatometric parameters.
Prabakaran
Sushil
S
Center for Advanced Research in Human Reproduction, Infertility and Sexual Function, Glickman Urological Institute, and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Kumanov
Philip
P
Tomova
Analia
A
Hubaveshki
Stanislav
S
Agarwal
Ashok
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014646:Varicocele / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology