ReviewAsian journal of andrology
The varicocele: diagnostic dilemmas, therapeutic challenges and future perspectives.
Review in Asian journal of andrology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Varicocele repair for severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia: Scoping review of published guidelines, and systematic review of the literature.Arab journal of urology · 2025Pooled it
- Surgical or radiological treatment for varicoceles in subfertile men.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Observation or treatment of paediatric varicoceles: revisiting the evidence.Nature reviews. Urology · 2026Review
- Sperm tRNA-Derived Fragment-36 Expression in Varicocele: Associations with Disease Severity, Semen Parameters and Reproductive Hormones.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026Article
- Ultrasound maximum vein diameter contextualizes testicular asymmetry in adolescent varicocele.International urology and nephrology · 2026Article
- Microscopic ligation combined with shunt procedure versus microsurgical varicocelectomy for nutcracker syndrome and left varicocele: a randomized controlled trial.Basic and clinical andrology · 2026Article
- Electroacupuncture for sperm improvement in varicocele: a case report.The Canadian journal of urology · 2026Article
- Three-Dimensional Laparoscopic Varicocelectomy as the New Microsurgical Technique: Safety, Efficiency, and Outcomes.Cureus · 2025Article
- Comparison of DNA fragmentation index and fertility rate after unilateral and bilateral microsurgical varicocelectomy.European journal of translational myology · 2025Article
- From imaging techniques to laboratory tests: a multimodal stratification for varicocele-associated decreased semen quality.Basic and clinical andrology · 2025Review
- Assessing the outcomes of subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy: pulling technique compared to the conventional method.International urology and nephrology · 2025Article
- Metabolomic profiling of varicocele-induced male infertility: insights from spermatic vein blood analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- What is the role of pre-operative sperm DNA fragmentation index in microsurgical varicocelectomy success?Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
- Beyond the Incision: A Comparative Study of Suprainguinal and Inguinal Varicocele Surgeries.Cureus · 2024Article
- Use of intraoperative microvascular Doppler during subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy in children reduces complications.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2024Article
- Male infertility.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2023Review
- The learning curve of bilateral laparoscopic varicocelectomy: a prospective study.Revista do Colegio Brasileiro de Cirurgioes · 2023Article
- Safety and efficacy of acupuncture for varicocele-induced male infertility: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2022Article
- A preliminary study of shear-wave elastography for the evaluation of varicocele in adolescents and young adults.Ultrasonography (Seoul, Korea) · 2022Article
- Verbascoside attenuates experimental varicocele-induced damage to testes and sperm levels through up-regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis.Pharmaceutical biology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
A varicocele is defined as the abnormal dilation of the internal testicular vein and pampiniform venus plexus within the spermatic cord. If a semen analysis is not obtained from the adolescent male, in the absence of other symptoms, the main clinical indication used by many urologists to recommend repair is testicular atrophy. The varicocele may result in testicular damage in some males causing testicular atrophy with impaired sperm production and decreased Leydig cell function, while in other males the varicocele may seemingly cause no ill effects. In adult men, varicoceles are frequently present and surgically correctable, yet the measurable benefits of surgical repair are slight according to a Cochrane review. While occurring more commonly in infertile men than fertile men, only 20% of men with a documented varicocele will suffer from fertility problems. Most varicoceles found in adolescents are detected during a routine medical examination, and it is difficult to predict which adolescent presenting with a varicocele will ultimately show diminished testicular function in adolescence or adulthood. As in adults, the mainstay of treatment for varicocele in adolescents is surgical correction. However, unlike an adult varicocelectomy (the microsurgical approach is the most common), treatment for an adolescent varicocele is more often laparoscopic. Nevertheless, the goals of treatment are the same in the adolescent and adult patients. Controversy remains as to which patients to treat, when to initiate the treatment, and what type of treatment is the best. This review will present the current understanding of the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of the adolescent varicocele.
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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.