title: Association between Clinical and Ultrasonic Characteristics of Varicocele and Lower Extremity Varicose Vein in Men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The study investigated the association between lower extremity varicose veins in men and varicocele.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 100 patients who presented to the Department of Vascular Surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University with the diagnosis of lower extremity varicose veins were included in the study group. A total of 100 adults without vascular disease were included as controls. The prevalence of varicocele between the study group and the control group was compared. We compared the prevalence of varicocele and the mean diameter of spermatic veins between the patients with and without reflux in the saphenofemoral junctions. We analyzed the association between the maximum spermatic vein diameter and the maximum diameter of lower extremity varicose veins in patients who had both lower extremity varicose vein and varicocele in the study group. According to their clinic signs, patients with lower extremity varicose veins were divided into C1-C6 by clinic sign grade of Clinical-Etiology-Anatomy-Pathophysiology (CEAP), and we investigated the trend of the incidence of varicocele and the mean diameter of spermatic veins in different grades.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients with lower extremity varicose veins had a statistically significant (χ2= 20.05, P < 0.01) higher rate of varicocele when compared with controls. We compared the prevalence of varicocele and the mean diameter of spermatic veins between the patients with and without reflux in the saphenofemoral junctions and found no statistically significant differences between them (prevalence of varicocele P > 0.05, diameter P > 0.05). We found a linear correlation between the maximum spermatic vein diameter and the maximum diameter of lower extremity varicose veins in the patients who had both lower extremity varicose veins and varicocele in the study group (coefficient of rank correlation r = 0.4072, P < 0.01). The patients in the study group were classified into 6 grades by CEAP. After the analysis by trend chi-square, we found that the prevalence of varicocele had no statistical trend in different grades (χ2= 0.8798, P > 0.05), and the mean diameter of spermatic vein also had no statistical trend in different grades (F = 1.59, P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, we demonstrated that the prevalence of varicocele is higher in patients with varicose veins in lower extremity than the patients without vascular diseases. The reason for the association between varicose vein in lower extremity and varicocele remains uncertain.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Binshan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zha
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: huagzhu@yeah.net.
authors.forename: Huagang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The TCM Hospital of Nanling County Wuhu City, Wuhu, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Si
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Dongdong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Affiliated Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013085:Spermatic Cord / Q000098:blood supply*; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D014646:Varicocele / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014680:Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*