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Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome (TDS)

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Clues in the Diagnosis of Non-tumoral Testicular Pathology

Abstract

In recent decades, epidemiological evidence of an increase of certain diseases of the male reproductive tract, such as testicular germ cell tumors, cryptorchidism, infertility, and hypospadias in industrialized countries, has suggested the hypothesis of the presence of a common testicular abnormality for which the name of testicular dysgenesis syndrome has been proposed. Studies have been routed in several lines of research: (a) identify the factors (endocrine disruptors) that promote the onset of these diseases, (b) specify the cellular mechanisms through which these factors act altering the fetal physiology, and (c) identify testicular lesions they produce what, although in varying degrees, might be common to all four pathologies. After a summary of the incidence of various pathologies and the most frequent endocrine disruptors that affect testicular physiology, this chapter also exposes the testicular histological findings (mixed atrophy, hypoplastic tubules, Sertoli cell nodules, granular changes in Sertoli cells, tubules with germ cell hypoplasia, microlithiasis, focal Leydig cell hyperplasia, and germ cell neoplasia in situ) that enable to suggest that a patient has a testicular dysgenesis syndrome.

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Correspondence to Manuel Nistal .

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Nistal, M., González-Peramato, P., Serrano, Á. (2017). Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome (TDS). In: Clues in the Diagnosis of Non-tumoral Testicular Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49364-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49364-0_13

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