In recent years, male infertility has become a growing social problem. Standard diagnostic procedures, based on assessing seminological parameters, are often insufficient to explain the causes of male infertility. Because of this, new markers with better clinical application are being sought. One of the promising markers seems to be an assessment of telomere length of sperm. Sperm telomeres, in contrast to somatic cells, are elongated as men age. The results of some studies suggest that telomere length may be relevant in the case of fertilization and normal embryo development. Literature reports indicate that there is a correlation between telomere length of sperm and abnormal sperm parameters. The measurement of telomere length using the method of quantitative PCR could become a new marker of spermatogenesis, which can be useful for evaluating male reproductive age.

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced significant changes in the functioning of health care systems worldwide. The availability of health resources and patient readiness to present to the hospital have been reduced. COVID-19-related safety procedures might have potentially disturbed diagnostic and therapeutic processes in the emergency department (ED), leading to noticeable delays in service with a possible negative impact on the final therapeutic outcome. The aim of this study was to assess whether changes in the health care system and designed modes of functioning of the ED during the pandemic had negative consequences on the diagnostic process and final effect of treatment of subjects with acute appendicitis.Methods. Due to the pandemic, certain changes in the functioning of emergency departments were implemented to ensure the safety of patients and the staff. We performed a retrospective analysis of the charts of patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis in the ED before (from 10.03.2019 to 31.12.2019) and during the pandemic (from 10.03.2020 to 31.12.2020). We compared the period from symptom onset to admission to the hospital, demographic and clinical features (including appendicitis severity), time intervals between crucial events in the diagnostic and therapeutic process and final results of therapy.Results. We included 133 patients (69 in the prepandemic period and 64 in the pandemic period). There were no significant differences in terms of demographic characteristics and comorbidities. During the pandemic, patients presented to the hospital later than before the pandemic, although the difference was not statistically significant (2.6 vs. 1.9 days from symptom onset, p=0.108). The severity of acute appendicitis was significantly higher during the pandemic according to the clinical scales used. For patients who underwent surgery, the time from admission to the beginning of the operation did not differ significantly before versus during the pandemic. We did not find significant differences in length of stay, rates of complications, reoperations or rehospitalizations between the prepandemic and pandemic periods.Conclusions. Our data show that COVID-19-related changes in the functioning of the ED did not lead to delays in the diagnostic process or to worsening of the therapeutic effect in patients with acute appendicitis.