ArticleAsian journal of andrology2023
Ultrasonographic evaluation of the rete testis thickness: a promising approach to differentiate obstructive from nonobstructive azoospermia.
Article in Asian journal of andrology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rete testis thickness is a novel predictor for Johnsen score and sperm retrieval outcomes in azoospermia.Translational andrology and urology · 2026Article
- Localization of obstruction sites in obstructive azoospermia: role of combined transscrotal-transrectal ultrasonography.Insights into imaging · 2025Article
- High-frequency ultrasound shear wave dispersion imaging for male infertility: a pilot study.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the ability of rete testis thickness (RTT) and testicular shear wave elastography (SWE) to differentiate obstructive azoospermia (OA) from nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA). We assessed 290 testes of 145 infertile males with azoospermia and 94 testes of 47 healthy volunteers at Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai, China) between August 2019 and October 2021. The testicular volume (TV), SWE, and RTT were compared among patients with OA and NOA and healthy controls. The diagnostic performances of the three variables were evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic curve. The TV, SWE, and RTT in OA differed significantly from those in NOA (all P ≤ 0.001) but were similar to those in healthy controls. Males with OA and NOA were similar at TVs of 9-11 cm 3 ( P = 0.838), with sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, and area under the curve of 50.0%, 84.2%, 0.34, and 0.662 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.502-0.799), respectively, for SWE cut-off of 3.1 kPa; and 94.1%, 79.2%, 0.74, and 0.904 (95% CI: 0.811-0.996), respectively, for RTT cut-off of 1.6 mm. The results showed that RTT performed significantly better than SWE in differentiating OA from NOA in the TV overlap range. In conclusion, ultrasonographic RTT evaluation proved a promising diagnostic approach to differentiate OA from NOA, particularly in the TV overlap range.
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