Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26510504›Full record

SynthesisAsian journal of andrology

Outcome of assisted reproductive technology in men with treated and untreated varicocele: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Sandro C Esteves, Matheus Roque, Ashok Agarwal

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Asian journal of andrology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03090438 (The Effect of Preliminary Varicocele Repair on IVF Outcomes in Male Factor Infertility), which is not on this map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
10.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03090438 naunknown statusnot on this map

The Effect of Preliminary Varicocele Repair on IVF Outcomes in Male Factor Infertility

TypeinterventionalSponsorShaare Zedek Medical CenterRan2017 to 2021Enrolled250ConditionsInfertility, Male, Varicocele, In Vitro FertilizationArmsVaricocele embolization
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 103 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Recent Trends in the Management of Varicocele.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Varicocele: To Treat or Not to Treat?Journal of clinical medicine · 2023
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Male factor infertility: Initial workup and diagnosis in primary care.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2021
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sandro C EstevesANDROFERT, Center for Male Reproduction, Av. Dr. Heitor Penteado 1464, Campinas, SP 13075-460, Brazil.
Matheus Roque
Ashok Agarwal
American Society for Reproductive Medicine · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Varicocele affects approximately 35%-40% of men presenting for an infertility evaluation. There is fair evidence indicating that surgical repair of clinical varicocele improves semen parameters, decreases seminal oxidative stress and sperm DNA fragmentation, and increases the chances of natural conception. However, it is unclear whether performing varicocelectomy in men with clinical varicocele prior to assisted reproductive technology (ART) improve treatment outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of varicocelectomy on ART pregnancy outcomes in nonazoospermic infertile men with clinical varicocele. An electronic search was performed to collect all evidence that fitted our eligibility criteria using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases until April 2015. Four retrospective studies were included, all of which involved intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and accounted for 870 cycles (438 subjected to ICSI with prior varicocelectomy, and 432 without prior varicocelectomy). There was a significant increase in the clinical pregnancy rates (OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.19-2.12, I 2 = 25%) and live birth rates (OR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.55-3.06, I 2 = 0%) in the varicocelectomy group compared to the group subjected to ICSI without previous varicocelectomy. Our results indicate that performing varicocelectomy in patients with clinical varicocele prior to ICSI is associated with improved pregnancy outcomes.

Indexed as

Reproductive Techniques, AssistedFemaleHumansInfertility, MaleMalePregnancySemen AnalysisTreatment OutcomeVaricocele

Identifiers

PMID26510504
PMCPMC4770495
OpenAlexW2266772644

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.