Paternity after bilateral cryptorchidism. A controlled study
P. A. Lee, L. A. O'Leary, N. J. Songer, M. T. Coughlin, M. F. Bellinger and R. E. LaPorte
Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pa, USA. leep@chplink.chp.edu
OBJECTIVE: To compare paternity among men with former bilateral
cryptorchidism (referred to as the bilateral group) with a group of men
with former unilateral cryptorchidism (referred to as the unilateral group)
and a control group. DESIGN: Epidemiologic survey of study cohort. SETTING:
Large urban pediatric hospital. SUBJECTS: Men with former bilateral and
unilateral cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy between 1955 and 1971 at
the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa, and a group of
control men have been surveyed by questionnaire concerning paternity and
factors related to paternity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Paternity. RESULTS:
Among the married men who had bilateral cryptorchidism, 50% had fathered
children, compared with 76% in the control group and 74% in the unilateral
group. Data were similar when the men who were cohabitating were included
with the married men. When men who had married and had attempted paternity
were evaluated, 62% of the men in the bilateral group had been able to
father children compared with 94% of the control group and 89% of the men
in the unilateral group. No relationship was noted between the age of
orchiopexy or lifestyle factors and paternity. Paternity among all groups
was related to female-related infertility factors and to the presence of
varicoceles. CONCLUSIONS: Paternity was compromised after bilateral
cryptorchidism when compared with men with former unilateral cryptorchidism
and a control group. Among the bilateral group, infertility is about 3.5
times as frequent than the unilateral group and more than 6 times as
frequent among the control group. No correlation was found between age of
orchiopexy and paternity for either group.
