1. Regional differences in maturation of germ cells of cryptorchid testes: role of environment.
- Author
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Zivkovic D, Varga J, Konstantinidis G, Vlaski J, Snyder HM, and Hadziselimovic F
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Age Factors, Child, Child, Preschool, Cryptorchidism surgery, Environment, Humans, Infant, Male, Philadelphia, Retrospective Studies, Sertoli Cells, Statistics, Nonparametric, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Cryptorchidism pathology, Spermatogonia cytology, Testis pathology
- Abstract
Objective: To investigate differences in maturation of germ cells in cryptorchid testes in three different regions., Patients and Methods: A total of 103 consecutive patients were operated for unilateral undescended testis in Vojvodina, from March 2006 until September 2007, and had a testicular biopsy performed. Germ cells were counted, and the presence of Ad spermatogonia was noted. Biopsies were compared to biopsies of similar patients from two different regions: Philadelphia, USA (130), and Liestal, Switzerland (55 patients)., Results: In Vojvodina, 84.5% of patients had Sertoli cells only, or some spermatogonia, but no Ad spermatogonia, and 15.5% had Ad spermatogonia. In Philadelphia, 59.3% of patients had poor testicular histology, and 40.7% had Ad spermatogonia. In Liestal, 61.8% of patients had no, or some, spermatogonia, but no Ad spermatogonia, and 38.2% had Ad spermatogonia. There was a difference (p = 0.000025) between the patients with normal testicular histology from Philadelphia and those from Vojvodina, as well as between the patients from Vojvodina and Liestal (p = 0.0027)., Conclusion: The reduction in the number of germ cells in patients with cryptorchidism from Vojvodina is more pronounced than patients from either Switzerland or USA. This is a unique observation, since such a study has not been published yet.
- Published
- 2009
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