CORRELATION BETWEEN TESTICULAR HEMODYNAMIC AND SEMEN QUALITY INDICES IN CLINICAL VARICOCELE PATIENTS IN WESTERN RAJASTHAN

Abstract

Varicocele, is associated with infertility due to testicular damage that causes abnormal spermatogenesis in males. The goal of this study is to ascertain the diagnostic signicance of scrotal color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) by measuring peak systolic value (PSV) and resistive index (RI) of the arteries supplying blood to the testis and their association with semen quality attributes. Sixty prospective patients (age: 20-50 years) undergoing subinguinal varicocelectomy at a teaching hospital were included in the study. Semen parameters and CDUS were recorded and testicular blood ow was determined as PSV and RI of subcapsular artery and intraparenchymal artery of the testes. Nonparametric statistics was applied to test the correlation/association of the semen quality with the PSV, RI, and other variables. Results revealed a signicant negative correlation (r = -0.28; p < 0.05) between progressive motility of spermatozoa and resistive index of the intraparenchymal arterial blood ow. Furthermore, it was noticed that the progressive motility of spermatozoa was tended to be negatively correlated (r = -0.236) with resistive index of subcapsular arterial blood ow. In conclusion, this study has revealed that progressive motility of sperms has correlation with the intraparenchymal blood ow of testes. The progressive motility of sperms could be correlated with RI of testicular blood ow. The apparent lack of association between diameter of varicocele vein and semen quality signies the need of investigating some other factors that may be involved in pathogenicity of varicocele. The diagnostic value of CDUS may be carefully interpreted and clinically correlated in assessment of severity of varicocele.