Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28647897›Full record

Trial reportJournal of endocrinological investigation2018

Varicocele and semen quality: a retrospective case-control study of 4230 patients from a single centre.

F Pallotti, D Paoli, T Carlini, A R Vestri, G Martino, A Lenzi, F Lombardo

Abstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of endocrinological investigation, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Risk factors on testicular function in adolescents.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2022
    Review
  12. Varicocele: An Endocrinological Perspective.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2022
    Review
  13. Leukocytospermia in late adolescents: possible clinical interpretations.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2021
    Article
  14. Molecular Analysis ofLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Effects of Environmental and Pathological Hypoxia on Male Fertility.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Presence of The NLRP3 Inflammasome Components in Semen of Varicocele Patients.International journal of fertility & sterility · 2020
    Article
  19. Treating varicocele in 2018: current knowledge and treatment options.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2018
    Review
  20. Article
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

7 authors.

F PallottiLaboratory of Seminology-Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini", Department of Experimental Medicine, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy.
D PaoliLaboratory of Seminology-Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini", Department of Experimental Medicine, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy.
T CarliniLaboratory of Seminology-Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini", Department of Experimental Medicine, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy.
A R VestriDepartment of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
G MartinoDepartment of Surgical Sciences "R. Paolucci", "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
A LenziLaboratory of Seminology-Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini", Department of Experimental Medicine, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy.
F LombardoLaboratory of Seminology-Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini", Department of Experimental Medicine, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy. francesco.lombardo@uniroma1.it.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe aim of the present study is to assess impairment of spermatogenesis induced by varicocele in, to our knowledge, the largest single-centre caseload available to date. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe conducted a retrospective study on 4230 consecutive patients attending our Department for andrological outpatient assessment and preconception check-ups between 2011 and 2014. A total of 2113 patients had varicocele (Group V), while the remaining 2117 were selected as the control group (Group C). All patients were divided into age classes (<17, 18-28, 29-39 and ≥40 years), and Group V patients were classified as "low" (I-II) or "high" (III-IV) grade.

resultsVaricocele patients had a higher mean height than controls, as well as lower BMI. There was also a statistically significant reduction in the concentration/mL and the total sperm number in Group V against Group C. When stratified by age, values for all semen parameters were significantly worse in the older than in the younger age classes in both Group V and Group C, except for concentration/mL and total sperm number in the 29-39 and ≥40 age classes in both groups. A multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that factors independently predicting the presence of varicocele were older age, higher BMI and smoking for more than 10 years.

conclusionsVaricocele patients show worse semen parameters compared to controls, although their values were still within WHO reference limits. Semen quality is further worsened by increased age, grade and chronic smoking.

Indexed as

SpermatogenesisAdultCase-Control StudiesHumansInfertility, MaleMaleRetrospective StudiesSemenSemen AnalysisSperm MotilityVaricoceleBMISpermatogenesisSperm parametersVaricocele

Identifiers

PMID28647897

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.