J Korean Med Sci.  2002 Oct;17(5):660-662. 10.3346/jkms.2002.17.5.660.

Epididymal Anomalies Associated with Patent Processus Vaginalis in Hydrocele and Cryptorchidism

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Urology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. urodr@catholic.ac.kr

Abstract

The epididymal anomalies and patent processus vaginalis are frequently seen in patients with cryptorchidism or hydrocele. We performed a prospective study on the relationship between the epididymal anomalies and the patency of the processus vaginalis in boys with hydrocele (190 cases) or cryptorchidism (89 cases) who were treated from August 1997 to February 2000 (mean age, 51 months; range, 12 to 152 months). The epididymal anomalies were observed with an overall frequency of 48%. Closed, partially closed, and open processus vaginalis were associated with an epididymal anomaly in 14, 38, and 65% of cases, respectively. The epididymal anomalies were more common in association with undescended (61%) than with descended (43%) testes without statistical significance (p=0.415). Incomplete attachment of the caput epididymis was the most common anomaly (35%), followed by detachment of caput and cauda epididymis (31%), cauda epididymis (24%), and long looping epididymis (10%). These data showed that the epididymal anomalies were strongly associated with the patency of the processus vaginalis irrespective of testicular descent (p<0.001), and they provide further evidence for the hypothesis that a common stimulus, possibly androgens, may be required for the epididymal development and obliteration of the processus vaginalis.

Keyword

Epididymis; Hernia; Hydrocele; Cryptorchidism

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Cryptorchidism/embryology/*pathology/surgery
Epididymis/*abnormalities/embryology
Humans
Infant
Male
Prospective Studies
Testicular Hydrocele/embryology/*pathology/surgery
Testis/abnormalities/embryology

Cited by  1 articles

Sonographic evaluation of fetal scrotum, testes and epididymis
Álvaro López Soto, Jose Luis Meseguer González, María Velasco Martínez, Rocío López Pérez, Inmaculada Martínez Rivero, Mónica Lorente Fernández, Olivia García Izquierdo, Juan Pedro Martínez Cendán
Obstet Gynecol Sci. 2021;64(5):393-406.    doi: 10.5468/ogs.21040.

Full Text Links
  • JKMS
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr