Varicoceles or swollen veins in the scrotum are a relatively common condition, affecting nearly 10% to 15% of otherwise healthy men, mostly in young men usually during the second or third decade of life. Varicoceles usually appear on the left side of the scrotum and it forms when valves inside the veins along the spermatic cord prevent blood from flowing properly, which cause the blood to backup leading to swelling and widening of the veins.
A sudden appearance of varicoceles in an elderly may be caused by a kidney tumor, which can block blood flow to a veindefine.
Sometimes varicoceles cause no symptoms and are quite harmless. But other times swollen veins in the scrotum cause pain or atrophy or fertility problems. Why and how this condition cause infertility in men is not known. Untill now, the traditional treatment for men with problematic varicoceles was open surgery known as varicocelectomy.
Lead author of the study, Sebastian Flacke, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of radiology at Tufts University School of Medicine said, “Venous embolization, a simple treatment using a catheter
define through the groin, can help to improve sperm function in infertile men.”
The study, conducted at the University of Bonn in Germany found that a minimal invasive procedure known as retrograde venous embolization can lower the male infertility via a tiny catheter by blocking excessive blood flow into the veins, allowing them to shrink back to normal size.
Dr. Flacke and team conducted the study on 223 infertile men with 228 varicoceles who underwent retrograde venous embolization. The subjects had healthy partners and were trying to conceive. The findings showed that 226 men able to impregnate their partners after the procedure.
In the treatment researchers used the new invasive technique in which a catheter was inserted through a small incision in the groin. The scientists said that the recovery time is slightest and most patients can return to work the very next day.
The procedure, done on an outpatient basis helped in improving the sperm quality and sperm motility within 6 months after the treatment and resulted in sired pregnancies in nearly one third of partners.
The team said that movement of the sperm was the only significant pre-treatment predictor of pregnancy and other measures such as clinical grading of varicoceles, hormone levels, Doppler ultrasound findings and other semen parameters did not reach statistical significance.
Dr. Flacke said, "Embolization of varicoceles in infertile men may be considered a useful adjunct to in-vitro fertilization."
However, even now it would be fairly exceptional for infertile men to get this treatment for varicoceles. Flacke said, "Most of the time we're aggressively treating the female side of infertility even when the male may be on the low side of fertility or even infertile."
The result of the study appears in the journal Radiology.
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