title: True duplication of the vas deferens: a case report and review of literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Duplication of the vas deferens is the identification of a second vas deferens within the spermatic cord; it is a rarely reported congenital anomaly. Duplicate vas deferens should not be confused with double vas deferens that describes ipsilateral renal agenesis with a blind ureter ending in the ejaculatory system.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present a case of duplicated vas deferens, and a PubMed Medline (National Library of Medicine) search was performed using the terms "[duplicated OR double]" and "vas deferens". Nineteen papers for a total of twenty-two cases (including ours) were identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Duplication of vas deferens is a rare finding; it is likely under-reported and underrecognized. Failure to recognize this variation can result in injury to the vas deferens or an ineffective vasectomy. Following identification of a suspected duplicated vas deferens, the structure should be tracked from the internal ring down to the epididymis and intra-operative Doppler should be performed. Post-operatively, renal and bladder imaging can be considered though there have been no reported cases of non-testicular genito-urinary anomalies associated with duplicated vas deferens.
authors.affiliation: Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey VAMC, Baylor College of Medicine, 2002 Holcombe Blvd, OCL (112), Houston, TX 77030, USA. ml3@bcm.edu
authors.forename: Mike K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Anuradha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weedin
authors.forename: Donald P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Samir S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Awad
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056126:Orchiopexy / Q000379:methods; D014564:Urogenital Abnormalities / Q000601:surgery*; D014649:Vas Deferens / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery; D014659:Vasectomy / Q000379:methods*