Anatomical and Functional Aspects of Testicular Descent and Cryptorchidism*

Prenatal measurement of testicular diameter by ultrasonography: development of fetal male gender and evaluation of testicular descent

“…These ultrasonographic results are in agreement with earlier ®ndings on the incidence of testicular descent at birth (Scorer, 1956;Elder, 1987). The sonographic appearance of normal fetal genitalia could be helpful in prenatal identi®cation of several clinical situations that include ambiguous genitalia, hypospadias, anorchidism and cryptorchidism, which are the most frequent anomalies of the external genitalia with an incidence of 3.4% in the term newborn, and 0.8±1% at 1 year of age (Elder, 1987;Desgrandchamps, 1990;McAlister and Sisler, 1990;Hutson et al, 1997). Testicular maldescent occurs bilaterally in 10±15% of cases, and both the bilateral and unilateral condition are known to be associated with increased risk of malignancy and altered spermatogenesis, which may lead to infertility, (Kogan, 1987;Lee, 1993).…”

“…The etiology of cryptorchidism is probably multifactorial, related to extrinsic or intrinsic causes disrupting testicular descent (Hutson et al, 1997). In the ®rst case the testicular damage of the cryptorchid testis is related only to its prolonged location in the abdomen and the normal descended testis in such forms may appear normal or even hypertrophic, but these patients exhibit normal sperm production (Foresta et al, 1996).…”

Die Therapie des Maldescensus testis

“…Lebensjahres weisen etwa 1% aller männlichen Säuglinge einen Maldescensus testis auf. Degenerative Veränderungen in nichtdeszendierten Hoden sind bereits im Alter von 6-12 Monaten nachweisbar [13]. Dies birgt wesentliche Implikationen für die spätere Reproduktions fähigkeit und das Risiko für die Entstehung von Hodentumoren.…”

“…2 Differenzialdiagnosen des Maldescensus testis bei genotypisch männlichen Individuen (Karyogramm XY) in Abhängigkeit der Lokalisation der Gonade und assoziierter StörungenCAIS komplette Androgenresistenz; PAIS partielle Androgenresistenz; PMDS "persistant mullerian duct syndrome". 10% der Fälle ist die Gonade intraabdominell lokalisiert[13]. Die am häufigsten mit einem Maldescensus tesis in Verbindung gebrachten Störungen der 7 Testosteronbiosynthese bzw.…”

Germ cell development in the descended and cryptorchid testis and the effects of hormonal manipulation

“…Cryptorchidism is a common condition, as yet imperfectly understood, with significant risks of infertility and malignancy [1]. Histopathological changes in normal and cryptorchid testis have contributed greatly to the elucidation of normal germ cell maturation and factors leading to disordered development in cryptorchidism.…”