Utilization Of Human Corionic Gonadotropin Hormone In The Treatment Of Undescended Testicle

Abstract

Introduction: Undescended testis is one of the most common congenital anomalieswith an incidence up to 9% in term male babies. Its incidence is closely related to the week of birth and weight.

Objective: In this research we aimed to elucidate the response of undescended testicles to Human Chorionic Gonadotropin treatment and to investigate whether patient age, total hormone dose, hormone administration time and anatomical localization of the testis affected this response.

Method: A total of 45 patients with undescended testicles, whose age range was between 5 months and 11 years and were treated with hCG have been enrolled in this retrospective analysis. Human Chorionic Gonadotropintreatment has been administered to patients who were followed-up by the same pediatric surgeon. Testicular location, testicular volume, penis size, scrotal pigmentation and genital hair growth were evaluated before and after hormone therapy. Patients were divided into five groups according to their age as: Group A (<12 months),  Group B(12 to 36 months), Group C (37 to 60 months), Group D (61 to 84 months) and Group E (>84 months).

Results: Following hCG treatment, 23 (46.9%) out of 49 individuals had non-palpable testes and they were located in the inguinal canal and suprascrotal descended into the scrotum. It was found that in 7 subjects testes did not completely descend into the scrotum, although they were displaced from their settlements to the scrotum before hCG treatment. This result was considered as treatment failure. Of the 10 patients that were considered as gliding testicles, all descended into the scrotum.

Conclusion: In conclusion, hormonal therapy appears to be of limited benefit in cases of true undescended testis and is more effective in cases with distal undescended testicles than in other abnormally located cases. However, the growth of the funiculus spermaticus structures as a result of hormone therapy, albeit partially, facilitates future surgical intervention.