Prostatic volume in young adults after treatment of cryptorchidism in childhood.

OBJECTIVE

To examine factors affecting prostatic growth in young men treated for cryptorchidism in childhood.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

Prostatic volume was measured in 76 formerly cryptorchid 16-28-year-old men treated by means of orchidopexy and/or hormonally for cryptorchidism in childhood. Correlations between prostatic volume and different hormonal parameters, sperm quality and body dimensions were investigated.

RESULTS

There were no significant correlations between adult prostatic volume and age, body dimensions or testicular size. There was, however, a significant positive correlation between prostatic volume and semen volume (R = 0.341; p = 0.0143), as well as a negative correlation between prostatic volume and serum testosterone concentration (R = 0.459; p = 0.0008). There was a trend towards smaller prostatic volumes in men who had received human chorionic gonadotropin as hormonal treatment than in those who had been treated with surgery only (median 9.5 vs 12 ml; p = 0.1595).

CONCLUSIONS

Measured prostatic volumes were small in previously cryptorchid men. However, small prostatic volumes did not result from low testosterone levels.