Testicular volume at puberty in boys with congenital cryptorchidism randomised to treatment at different ages

Infographic · Jul 2024 · 1 min read

In brief

Randomized trial comparing testicular growth outcomes in boys with congenital cryptorchidism treated at 9 months versus 3 years of age. Earlier orchidopexy at 9 months resulted in better testicular volume at age 16, though neither surgical group achieved normal contralateral testicular size.

Orchidopexy at 9 months results in better testicular growth at puberty compared to surgery at 3 years of age.
Even with early surgery at 9 months, cryptorchid testes don't achieve the same volume as normally descended contralateral testes.
Spontaneously descended testes show impaired growth compared to normal scrotal testes, suggesting intrinsic testicular pathology.
Earlier surgical intervention (9 months vs 3 years) is beneficial for long-term testicular development in cryptorchidism.

Written by the GCMD Library team from the infographic.

A three-column comparison layout with medical illustrations of esophageal procedures. Each column contains anatomical diagrams in blue and pink tones showing the esophagus and stomach, with procedural steps illustrated. Bar charts or percentage indicators display outcome metrics below each approach. The design uses a clean, clinical color palette with icons and arrows to show procedural flow.

New infographic by the Chilean Society of Pediatric Surgeons and Dr. Jose Campos
”Testicular volume at puberty in boys with congenital cryptorchidism randomised to treatment at different ages”

Authors: Claude Kollin, Agneta Nordenskjöld, Martin Ritzén

Full article: https://gcmd.co/3YlqLDO

Aim: To assess testicular volume at puberty for boys who underwent orchidopexy at 9 or at 36 months compared to boys with spontaneous postnatal descent.

Methods: At age 6 months, boys with congenital unilateral cryptorchidism were randomised to surgery at 9 or 39 months of age and followed to 16 years in parallel with boys with spontaneous postnatal descent. Ultrasound was done at 11 and 16 years to determine testicular volume. The ratio of the initially undescended testis to its scrotal counterpart was used to assess testicular growth.

Results: At age 16, the ratio was lower (p < 0.00) in the late group compared to the early group. At 16 years, the spontaneously descended testes were significantly smaller than their scrotal counterparts but larger than the operated groups (early p < 0.01 and late p < 0.00).

Conclusion: Our data at 16 years show that orchidopexy at 9 months results in better testicular growth compared to 3 years but did not reach the corresponding volumes of their scrotal counterparts. This indicates that earlier surgery is beneficial to testicular growth. At age 16, the postnatally descended testes were not only larger than the surgically treated testes but also exhibited impaired testicular growth.

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