Korean J Urol.  2014 Aug;55(8):533-535. 10.4111/kju.2014.55.8.533.

Adolescent Varicocele: Are Somatometric Parameters a Cause?

• Bae K
• Shin HS
• Jung HJ
• Kang SH
• Jin BS
• Park JS

• KMID: 1794588
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4111/kju.2014.55.8.533

Abstract

PURPOSE
It has been reported that varicocele is found less frequently in obese men. Accordingly, we evaluated varicocele patients and statistically analyzed the correlation between varicocele and somatometric parameters.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 211 patients underwent surgery for varicoceles. All patients underwent history taking, physical examination, and scrotal ultrasound to determine the presence and severity of varicocele. An age-matched control group consisted of 102 patients who were found not to have varicocele according to physical examinations and scrotal ultrasound. The age, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) of the two groups were compared. The statistical analyses were performed by use of PASW Statistics ver. 18.0. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used for statistical significance.
RESULTS
In the varicocele group, the mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 29.42+/-14.01 years, 168.53+/-9.97 cm, 62.14+/-13.17 kg, and 21.66+/-3.21 kg/m2, respectively. The distribution of varicocele grade was as follows: 103 (48.8%) grade III, 72 (34.1%) grade II, and 36 (17.1%) grade I. In the control group, the mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 30.83+/-17.31 years, 161.93+/-19.83 cm, 64.69+/-17.86 kg, and 24.04+/-3.64 kg/m2, respectively. Analyzing these data specifically in adolescents, they showed significant differences in age, height, and BMI (p=0.000, p=0.000, and p=0.004, respectively) between two groups. There were no significant differences in somatometric parameters between patients with different grades of varicocele.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results showed that patients with varicoceles were significantly taller and had a lower BMI than did patients without varicoceles, especially among adolescents. Carefully designed future studies may be needed.

Keyword

Body height; Body mass index; Varicocele

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Anthropometry/methods
Body Height/physiology
Body Mass Index
Body Weight/physiology
Case-Control Studies
Humans
Male
Scrotum/ultrasonography
Varicocele/*etiology/physiopathology/ultrasonography
Young Adult

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