Abstract
Varicoceles are frequently detected in infertile men and are associated with decreased sperm quality. Advances in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have enabled men with only a few sperm to father their own children. While repair of clinical varicoceles can improve semen parameters, whether this is necessary—or even relevant—given the technology we currently possess may be questioned. In this chapter, we evaluate the literature to determine the effects of varicocele repair on ART outcomes. The financial and time costs of repair remain understudied; however, the literature strongly favors varicocele repair in both improving ART outcomes as well as decreasing the level of ART needed to achieve pregnancy and live birth. Thus, repair of clinical varicoceles should be considered and discussed with patients prior to ART.
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This work is supported in part by NIH grants K12 DK0083014, the Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research (KURe) Career Development Program awarded to DJL (NT is a K12 Scholar) and R01DK078121 from the National Institute of Kidney and Digestive Diseases to Dolores J Lamb. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Gabrielsen, J.S., Thirumavalavan, N., Pastuszak, A.W. (2019). Effect of Varicocele Treatment on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Pregnancy Outcomes. In: Esteves, S., Cho, CL., Majzoub, A., Agarwal, A. (eds) Varicocele and Male Infertility. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79102-9_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79102-9_24
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