[Is testicular biopsy still a current andrologic study method?].

In the course of decades, the indications for testicular biopsy have significantly changed with the development of hormone estimation and chromosomal analysis. Today modern andrological techniques may replace the biopsy in many cases. On the basis of an exactly defined history and thorough clinical, spermatological, and endocrinological investigations, however, there may be some situations which call for a testicular biopsy in order to settle questions still unclear in the evaluation of male infertility. In addition, modern techniques allow exact histological and cytological evaluation. Therefore, histological examination of testicular tissue is frequently of prognostic value. Besides the andrological indications, the increased incidence rate of so-called atypical germ cells in testicles of infertile men represents an additional oncological indication for testicular biopsy.