323 COMPARISONS OF RIGHT AND LEFT TESTICULAR SIZE IN BOYS WITH AND WITHOUT VARICOCELE

of 60 patients with primary diagnosis of varicocele and 20 agematched controls were included into the study. Varicocele was diagnosed by observation and palpation of each spermatic cord in standing position before and during a valsalva maneuver. All patients examine for hemorrhoids by general surgeon. At the lower extremity venous Doppler ultrasonography, a retrograde flow lasting longer than 0.5 seconds during normal breathing or at the valsalva maneuver was considered to be meaningful for sapheno-femoral junction insufficiency. RESULTS: Thirtyeight(63.3%)patients had hemorrhoids in the study-group whereas 5(25.0%) had hemorrhoids in the control-group. The study-group had a statistical significant higher rate of hemorrhoids than control-group. Fortysix(76.6%) patients had insufficiency in sapheno-femoral junction in the study-group whereas 6(30.0%) had insufficiency in the control-group. The patients with primary varicocele had a statistical significant higher rate of venous insufficiency in their sapheno-femoral junctions than control-group. Although the patients who have grade III varicoceles tended to have saphenofemoral insufficiency and hemorrhoids,there was no statistical significance between the grade of varicocele and the presence of saphenofemoral insufficiency or hemorrhoids. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of hemorrhoids and sapheno-femoral insufficiency has been found to be statistically higher in patients with primary varicocele compared to healthy men. Thus,we claim that varicocele formation may not always be a local disease. However,further studies in larger group of patients are certainly required to confirm the possible association between these pathological conditions.