Low sperm recovery from the undescended testis with testicular sperm extraction in postpubertal cryptorchids: preliminary report

Summary As postpubertal cryptorchid testes are generally atrophic and have high malignancy risk, orchiectomy is recommended as the treatment method. However, a few case reports advocated orchiopexy due to finding sperm afterwards. The present clinical study aimed at determining the possibility of finding spermatozoa in postpubertal cryptorchid testis with testicular sperm extraction (TESE). Initially testicular biopsy and later TESE was performed in the undescended testis of 22 unilateral postpubertal cryptorchids and in one of the testes of three bilateral postpubertal cryptorchids. Histopathological assessment of testicular biopsy specimen showed that three patients had maturation arrest and 22 had seminiferous tubular atrophy. By TESE, spermatozoa were found in only one specimen of 25 testes. Our results show that the expectancy to find spermatozoa in postpubertal cryptorchid testis is extremely low by current sperm recovery methods and orchiectomy is still the accurate method of treatment.