Frequency and nature of testicular and paratesticular lesions in forensic autopsies

Abstract

The aim of our study was to determine the frequency and nature of testicular and paratesticular lesions in forensic autopsies. A retrospective study was carried out on 495 adult male cases that underwent forensic autopsy from January 2008 to December 2011 in our Department. For each case, the following parameters were reported: age, body mass index, nature of testicular and paratesticular lesions, associated lesions in external genitalia, testicle weight, cause of death, manner of death, resuscitation attempts and prior medical history. Mean age of the studied population was 47.8 years (range 18–96). Mean body mass index was 25.3 kg/m2 (range 15–46.2). Testicular lesions and/or paratesticular were found in 16.4% of the cases ( n = 81). The most frequent lesions were, respectively, testicular atrophy ( n = 38) and trauma ( n = 28). In three cases showing traumatic lesions, associated traumatic lesions were found in external genitalia. Most frequent cause of death was blunt trauma (19.9% of the cases). Manner of death most frequently associated with testicular trauma was, respectively, road traffic accident ( n = 11) and suicidal fall ( n = 6). Mean testicular weight was, respectively, 17.9 g for the right and 20.8 g for the left (range 2–38). Atrophy was associated with testicular weight less than 10 g. A significant association between testicular atrophy and age was found, the risk of atrophy increasing quite linearly with age. No significant statistical link between prior medical history and testicular pathology was found. There was also no influence of body mass index. Resuscitation attempts were not statistically associated with testicular traumatic lesions.