Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36303681›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in reproductive health2022

Varicoceles in Men With Non-obstructive Azoospermia: The Dilemma to Operate or Not.

Aris Kaltsas, Eleftheria Markou, Athanasios Zachariou, Fotios Dimitriadis, Charalampos Mamoulakis, Sotirios Andreadakis, Ioannis Giannakis, Panagiota Tsounapi, Atsushi Takenaka, Nikolaos Sofikitis

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in reproductive health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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.

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

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
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  7. Varicocele and nonobstructive azoospermia.Asian journal of andrology · 2025
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
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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

10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Aris KaltsasLaboratory of Spermatology, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Eleftheria MarkouLaboratory of Spermatology, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Athanasios ZachariouLaboratory of Spermatology, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Fotios DimitriadisDepartment of Urology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Charalampos MamoulakisDepartment of Urology, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
Sotirios AndreadakisLaboratory of Spermatology, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Ioannis GiannakisLaboratory of Spermatology, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Panagiota TsounapiDepartment of Urology, School of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Japan.
Atsushi TakenakaDepartment of Urology, School of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Japan.
Nikolaos SofikitisLaboratory of Spermatology, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
University of Ioannina · GRTottori University · JPAristotle University of Thessaloniki · GRUniversity of Crete · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The knowledge on male reproduction is constantly expanding, especially in treating infertility due to non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Varicocele is occasionally diagnosed in a subpopulation of males with NOA. Varicocele repair in NOA-men may contribute to the reappearance of spermatozoa in semen. However, spontaneous pregnancies are observed in only a small percentage of NOA-men post-varicocelectomy. Additionally, it has been reported that the repair of varicocele in NOA-men (before the performance of sperm retrieval techniques) may increase the testicular sperm recovery rate. In addition, it increases the pregnancy rate in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) programs in NOA-men without spermatozoa in the semen post-varicocelectomy. In addition, to the improvement in Sertoli cellular secretory function, varicocelectomy may increase the secretory function of Leydig cells, which subsequently results in improved androgen production, raising the probability to negate the need for testosterone replacement therapy in cases of late-onset hypogonadism. On the other hand, the benefit of varicocelectomy in patients with NOA is still debatable. The current review study aims to provide a critical and extensive review of varicocele repair in males with NOA. This study additionally focuses on the impact of varicocele repair on sperm retrieval rates and its influence on the ICSI outcomes for those couples who remain negative for spermatozoa in their semen samples post-varicocelectomy.

Indexed as

ICSInon-obstructive azoospermiaspermatozoavaricocelevaricocelectomy

Identifiers

PMID36303681
PMCPMC9580802
OpenAlexW4225988803

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.