What is the indication of varicocelectomy in men with nonobstructive azoospermia?
Lee JS; Park HJ; Seo JT Department of Urology, Cheil Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of microsurgical varicocelectomy in nonobstructive azoospermic patients. The surgical outcomes were correlated with the histopathologic patterns of testicular specimens. METHODS: A total of 19 nonobstructive azoospermic men who underwent testicular biopsy and varicocelectomy were included in the study. In 15 patients, unilateral varicocelectomy was performed, and in 4, bilateral varicocelectomy was performed. An inguinal approach with a microsurgical technique was used. Postoperative semen analyses were performed in each patient 3 months after varicocelectomy. RESULTS: Testicular histologic examination revealed hypospermatogenesis in 3 patients, maturation arrest in 6, and germ cell aplasia in 10. After a mean follow-up of 7.4 months, motile sperm in the ejaculate was identified in 7 (36.4%) of the nonobstructive azoospermic pati
