title: Should men with idiopathic obstructive azoospermia be screened for genitourinary tuberculosis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Infertility may be the sole manifestation of genitourinary tuberculosis (TB) and men with idiopathic obstructive azoospermia are often screened for TB using semen polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. We assessed the benefits of such screening.
  
  
  METHODS
  Totally, 100 infertile men with idiopathic obstructive azoospermia were screened with a kit-based PCR for semen TB. Confirmatory tests for TB were performed in PCR positive men before administering anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) for 6 months. Semen analysis was repeated to assess benefits of treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven subjects (7%) had positive semen PCR for TB. Four of them had other clinical evidence of TB (history and physical signs) and were administered ATT. None had any improvement in semen parameters. No subject had any other laboratory evidence of TB and no other subject (96%) was administered ATT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Screening for TB using semen PCR did not identify any men who would have been missed on clinical evaluation and is thus not indicated in men with idiopathic obstructive azoospermia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Rajan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Prabhjot
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Rajeev
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
keywords: Azoospermia; infertility; male genital; polymerase chain reaction; screening; tuberculosis
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