[The medical treatment of cryptorchism in early childhood]

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy of early treatment of cryptorchidism, we studied 154 children, 133 with unilateral and 21 bilateral cryptorchidism, between the ages of 6 months and 6 years. Only fullterm newborns without other pathological signs were selected for treatment which was undertaken only after the sixth month of life, when the time of late spontaneous testicular descent has been passed. By clinical evaluation, cryptorchid testes were classified as not palpable, inguinal and prescrotal. Patients were treated by LHRH nasal spray 200 mcg in each nostril 3 times a day (total 1.2 mg/day) for 4 weeks. In the case of failure, HCG (500 I.U. im. 3 times a week for 3 weeks) was further administered. We considered as therapeutic success testicular descent into the lower half of the scrotum. By LHRH treatment 36 testes (20.5%) reached the scrotum, when HCG was added in unsuccessful cases 47 other gonads (26.8%) descended. Total descent rate by LHRH + HCG was 47.3% (table 1). Uni- and bilateral forms of cryptorchidism responded to therapy without any significant difference (table 2). Abdominal testes failed to descend into the scrotum, 28.7% of inguinal testes and 81.3% prescrotal testes descended. Scrotal descent was dependent only by position of cryptorchid testes and not by age of patients (table 3). Higher descent rates obtained at older ages were due to higher incidence of milder forms of cryptorchidism (table 3). Side effects of combined therapy were light. In our experience, medical treatment by LHRH + HCG started after the first 6 months of life causes testicular descent in about one half of testes; it can place into the scrotum gonads with better fertility prognosis.