title: Testicular Shear Wave Elastography in Normal and Infertile Men: A Prospective Study on 601 Patients.
abstract: Our aim in the study described here was to prospectively establish the feasibility of using and reproducibility of testicular shear-wave elastography in the assessment of testicular stiffness in 62 normal patients and 539 infertile men with obstructive azoospermia (OA), non-Klinefelter syndrome non-obstructive azoospermia (non-KS NOA), Klinefelter syndrome NOA (KS NOA), oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) or a left varicocele. The feasibility rate was 96.9%, with an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.85 (95% confidence interval: 0.83-0.88). Median stiffness (interquartile range) values were 2.4 kPa (2.0, 2.9), 2.1 kPa (1.8, 2.5), 2.4 kPa (2.0, 2.7), 2.0 kPa (1.7, 2.4), 2.6 kPa (2, 3.2) and 2.2 kPa (1.8, 2.6) for men with a normal testis (n = 108), OAT (n = 689), OA (n = 119), non-KS NOA (n = 183), KS NOA (n = 70) and varicocele (n = 132), respectively. Testicular shear wave elastography is a feasible and reproducible technique. A significant positive association was found between stiffness and testis volume (p = 0.001). Testicular stiffness was higher in OA than in non-KS NOA populations (p = 1.e-10) and in KS NOA than in NOA populations (p = 2.0e-8), but the substantial number of overlapping values limited the clinical impact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Bicetre University Hospital, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France; Paris South Medical University, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France; Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University CNRS UMR 7587, INSERM ERL U-979, Paris, France. Electronic address: laurence.rocher@aphp.fr.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rocher
authors.affiliation: Supersonic Imagine, Aix en Provence cedex, France.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Criton
authors.affiliation: Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University CNRS UMR 7587, INSERM ERL U-979, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gennisson
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Bicêtre University Hospital, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Izard
authors.affiliation: Paris South Medical University, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France; Department of Pathology, Bicêtre University Hospital, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferlicot
authors.affiliation: Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University CNRS UMR 7587, INSERM ERL U-979, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Mickael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanter
authors.affiliation: Paris South Medical University, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benoit
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Bicetre University Hospital, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France; Paris South Medical University, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Marie France
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bellin
authors.affiliation: Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University CNRS UMR 7587, INSERM ERL U-979, Paris, France; Department of Adult Radiology, Necker University Hospital, Paris, France; Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Correas
mesh_terms: D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013737:Testis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: Klinefelter syndrome; Male infertility; Shear wave elastography; Testis; Varicocele