ReviewAsian journal of andrology
Summary evidence on the effects of varicocele treatment to improve natural fertility in subfertile men.
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 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Varicocele Surgical Repair on Serum Hormone and Inhibin B Levels for Patients With Varicocele: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.American journal of men's healthPooled it
- Small RNA profile alterations as a potential mechanism for sperm quality improvement following varicocelectomy.Asian journal of andrology · 2026Article
- Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Male Infertility: A Narrative Review of Diagnostic Value and Clinical Integration.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Sperm DNA methylation landscape in infertile men with clinical varicocele: unravelling the treatment effect.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2026Article
- Male infertility.Systems biology in reproductive medicine · 2025Review
- Molecular Remodeling of the Sperm Proteome Following Varicocele Sclero-Embolization: Implications for Semen Quality Improvement.Proteomes · 2025Article
- Controversy and Consensus on the Management of Elevated Sperm DNA Fragmentation in Male Infertility: A Global Survey, Current Guidelines, and Expert Recommendations.The world journal of men's health · 2023Article
- Negative effect of varicocele on sperm mitochondrial dysfunction: A cross-sectional study.International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2023Article
- Effects of probiotic supplementation on semen parameters after varicocelectomy: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2023Article
- The impact of varicocelectomy on sperm DNA fragmentation and pregnancy rate in subfertile men with normal semen parameters: A pilot study.Arab journal of urology · 2021Article
- Varicocele-Associated Infertility and the Role of Oxidative Stress on Sperm DNA Fragmentation.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2021Review
- Left spermatic vein reflux after varicocele repair predicts pregnancies and live births in subfertile couples.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2019Observational
- Extended indications for varicocelectomy.F1000Research · 2019Review
- Treating varicocele in 2018: current knowledge and treatment options.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2018Review
- Effect of Varicocelectomy on Serum FSH and LH Levels for Patients with Varicocele: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.The Indian journal of surgery · 2018Article
- Effect of varicocele repair on sperm DNA fragmentation: a review.International urology and nephrology · 2018Review
- An evidence-based perspective on the role of sperm chromatin integrity and sperm DNA fragmentation testing in male infertility.Translational andrology and urology · 2017Article
- Integrating surgical and clinical andrology is essential to improve the quality of care delivered to infertile couples.Translational andrology and urology · 2017Article
- Potential role of imaging in assessing harmful effects on spermatogenesis in adult testes with varicocele.World journal of radiology · 2017Review
- Novel concepts in male factor infertility: clinical and laboratory perspectives.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The objective of this review was to summarize the evidence concerning the benefit of varicocele treatment to improve natural fertility in subfertile males. We also analyzed the effect of varicocele treatment on conventional semen parameters and sperm functional tests. An electronic search to collect the data was performed using the PubMed/MEDLINE databases until July 2015. Data pooled from a variety of study designs indicate that varicocelectomy improves semen parameters in the majority of the treated men with clinical varicocele and abnormal semen parameters regardless of the chosen surgical method. Surgical varicocele repair was beneficial not only for alleviating oxidative stress-associated infertility but also to improve sperm nuclear DNA integrity. However, given the low magnitude of the effect size in sperm DNA integrity, further research is needed to elucidate its clinical significance. Conflicting results on the effect of varicocele treatment on natural fertility seem to be due to heterogeneous study designs and, more importantly, patient selection criteria. When these issues are controlled, current evidence indicates that treatment of subclinical varicocele is not warranted, as it does not seem to improve fertility. On the contrary, fair evidence indicates that varicocele treatment should be offered to infertile patients with palpable varicocele and abnormal semen parameters. This evidence supports the current guidelines issued by the American Urological Association and European Association of Urology, which state that varicocele treatment should be offered to male partners of infertile couples presenting for evaluation with clinical varicocele and semen parameters alterations.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.