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Clues in the Diagnosis of Non-tumoral Testicular Pathology pp 349–361Cite as

Testicular Changes in Elderly Men

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Abstract

The testes of the elderly show two types of lesions, some of them are directly related to aging, and the second type are lesions secondary to an associated pathology (endocrine, toxic, vascular, and obstruction of the spermatic pathway). Lesions directly related to aging are diffuse and affect all the testicular structures. Shortening and wall thickening of the seminiferous tubules occurs. Sertoli cells decrease in number and accumulate abundant lipids. The number of Ap and B spermatogonia decreases, and hypertrophic and multinucleated spermatogonia increase. The number of spermatocytes becomes reduced and megalospermatocytes increase. Multinucleated and misshapen spermatids are more abundant. Leydig cells decrease, and multinucleated cells appear in the interstitium of both Leydig cells and CD34-positive fibroblasts. These diffuse lesions are added with associated focal lesions secondary to obstructive processes localized in the epididymis (efferent ductule atrophy of an ischemic mechanism, inflammatory, or due to hormone deprivation) or in the testis itself through compression of the rete testis by dilated varicose veins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Department of Anatomy, Histology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Madrid, Spain

    Manuel Nistal

  2. School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), University Hospital La Paz, Department of Pathology, Madrid, Spain

    Pilar González-Peramato

  3. University Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Department of Urology, Madrid, Spain

    Álvaro Serrano

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  1. Manuel Nistal
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Nistal, M., González-Peramato, P., Serrano, Á. (2017). Testicular Changes in Elderly Men. In: Clues in the Diagnosis of Non-tumoral Testicular Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49364-0_39

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