Study on the incidence of testicular and epididymal appendages in patients with cryptorchidism.

OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence of testicular and epididymal appendages in patients with cryptorchidism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 65 patients with cryptorchidism, totalizing 83 testes and 40 patients who had prostate adenocarcinoma and hydrocele (control group), totalizing 55 testes. The following situations were analyzed: I) absence of testicular and epididymal appendages, II) presence of testicular appendage only, III) presence of epididymal appendage, IV) presence of testicular and epididymal appendage, V) presence of 2 epididymal appendages and 1 testicular appendage and VI) presence of paradidymis or vas aberrans of Haller.

RESULTS: In patients with cryptorchidism we found testicular appendages in 23 cases (41.8%), epididymal appendages in 9 (16.3%), testicular and epididymal appendage in 8 (14.5%), 2 epididymal appendages and 1 testicular in 1 (1.8%) and absence of appendages in 14 (25.4%). In the control group, we found testicular appendages in 29 (34.9%), epididymal appendages in 19 (22.8%), testicular and epididymal appendage in 7 (8.4%), and absence of appendages in 28 (33.7%), we did not find 2 epididymal appendages in this group, and none of the patients in the 2 groups presented paradidymis or vas aberrans of Haller.

CONCLUSION: The occurrence of testicular and epididymal appendages is quite variable. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence and distribution of the testicular and epididymal appendages between patients with cryptorchidism and those from the control group.