title: Adolescent varicocele: are somatometric parameters a cause?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It has been reported that varicocele is found less frequently in obese men. Accordingly, we evaluated varicocele patients and statistically analyzed the correlation between varicocele and somatometric parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 211 patients underwent surgery for varicoceles. All patients underwent history taking, physical examination, and scrotal ultrasound to determine the presence and severity of varicocele. An age-matched control group consisted of 102 patients who were found not to have varicocele according to physical examinations and scrotal ultrasound. The age, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) of the two groups were compared. The statistical analyses were performed by use of PASW Statistics ver. 18.0. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used for statistical significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the varicocele group, the mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 29.42±14.01 years, 168.53±9.97 cm, 62.14±13.17 kg, and 21.66±3.21 kg/m(2), respectively. The distribution of varicocele grade was as follows: 103 (48.8%) grade III, 72 (34.1%) grade II, and 36 (17.1%) grade I. In the control group, the mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 30.83±17.31 years, 161.93±19.83 cm, 64.69±17.86 kg, and 24.04±3.64 kg/m(2), respectively. Analyzing these data specifically in adolescents, they showed significant differences in age, height, and BMI (p=0.000, p=0.000, and p=0.004, respectively) between two groups. There were no significant differences in somatometric parameters between patients with different grades of varicocele.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that patients with varicoceles were significantly taller and had a lower BMI than did patients without varicoceles, especially among adolescents. Carefully designed future studies may be needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwonho
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Shin
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012611:Scrotum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014646:Varicocele / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body height; Body mass index; Varicocele