Further evidence for spontaneous descent of acquired undescended testes

Abstract

Purpose: It is still controversial whether acquired undescended testis can best be managed by orchiopexy or by the wait and see method. We prospectively evaluated spontaneous descent of acquired undescended testes and possible predictive factors in prepubertal boys.

Materials and methods: From 1982 to 2004 spontaneous descent was awaited until at least Tanner stage P2G2 in 109 boys with a total of 83 unilateral and 52 bilateral acquired undescended testes. Annually we established testis position and size. After Tanner stage P2G2 orchiopexy was done for all testes in an unstable scrotal position.

Results: Two boys (3 acquired undescended testes) were excluded from analysis. Of 132 acquired undescended testes 75 descended spontaneously (57%, 95% CI 48-65), including 40 of 75 (57%) in early puberty or before puberty and 32 of 75 (43%) in mid puberty. Orchiopexy was performed in 57 of 132 acquired undescended testes (43%). Acquired undescended testes showed an increasing chance of descending spontaneously with increasing age (p trend = 0.002). In 63 of 82 unilateral undescended testes we were able to compare testis volume at the onset of puberty with that of the healthy contralateral side. Of 17 testes that needed orchiopexy 12 (71%) had a volume that was more than 1 ml smaller than the healthy testis. This was noted in only 18 of 46 spontaneously descended acquired undescended testes (39%, p = 0.053). Other factors, such as the most caudal testicular position at referral or the frequency of confirmed descended testicular position before referral, were not predictive of spontaneous descent.

Conclusions: A conservative wait and see approach to acquired undescended testis until puberty could prevent more than half of the boys from undergoing orchiopexy and it does not seem detrimental in terms of testicular volume.