Ultrasonographic evaluation of the rete testis thickness:a promising approach to differentiate obstructive from nonobstructive azoospermia  

作　　者：Xin Li Ru-Hui Tian Peng Li Chun-Xiao Li Ming-Hua Yao Chen-Cheng Yao Xiao-Bo Wang Li-Ren Jiang Zheng Li Rong Wu 

机构地区：[1]Department of Ultrasound,Shanghai General Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,Shanghai 200080,China [2]Department of Andrology,The Center for Men’s Health,Urologic Medical Center,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine,Shanghai General Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,Shanghai 200080,China [3]Department of Pathology,Shanghai General Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,Shanghai 200080,China

出　　处：《Asian Journal of Andrology》2023年第6期725-730,共6页亚洲男性学杂志（英文版）

基　　金：This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.82071931 and No.82130057);the Program for Shanghai Outstanding Medical Academic Leaders(2019LJ18);the Interdisciplinary Program of Shanghai Jiao Tong University(ZH2018ZDA17);the Program from Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(20Y11912400);the Clinical Research Innovation Team of Shanghai General Hospital(No.CTCCR-2019B05).

摘　　要：This study aimed to evaluate the ability of rete testis thickness(RTT)and testicular shear wave elastography(SWE)to differentiate obstructive azoospermia(OA)from nonobstructive azoospermia(NOA).We assessed 290 testes of 145 infertile males with azoospermia and 94 testes of 47 healthy volunteers at Shanghai General Hospital(Shanghai,China)between August 2019 and October 2021.The testicular volume(TV),SWE,and RTT were compared among patients with OA and NOA and healthy controls.The diagnostic performances of the three variables were evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic curve.The TV,SWE,and RTT in OA differed significantly from those in NOA(all P≤0.001)but were similar to those in healthy controls.Males with OA and NOA were similar at TVs of 9–11 cm^(3)(P=0.838),with sensitivity,specificity,Youden index,and area under the curve of 50.0%,84.2%,0.34,and 0.662(95%confidence interval[CI]:0.502–0.799),respectively,for SWE cut-off of 3.1 kPa;and 94.1%,79.2%,0.74,and 0.904(95%CI:0.811–0.996),respectively,for RTT cut-off of 1.6 mm.The results showed that RTT performed significantly better than SWE in differentiating OA from NOA in the TV overlap range.In conclusion,ultrasonographic RTT evaluation proved a promising diagnostic approach to differentiate OA from NOA,particularly in the TV overlap range.

关 键 词：AZOOSPERMIA differential diagnosis rete testis thickness shear wave elastography 

分 类 号：R697[医药卫生—泌尿科学]