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Gonadotropins for testicular descent in cryptorchid congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism males beyond infancy

  • Shreya Sharma , Ravikumar Shah , Virendra Patil , Anurag R. Lila , Vijaya Sarathi , Nalini Shah and Tushar Bandgar EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: April 26, 2021

Abstract

Objectives

To study the effect of combined gonadotropin therapy (CGT) on testicular descent ± spermatogenesis in congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) patients with cryptorchidism beyond infancy.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study included CHH patients with cryptorchidism [bilateral (n=5) or unilateral (n=1)] treated with CGT for testicular descent ± pubertal induction. All participants were treated with CGT [human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)] with hMG pretreatment in three and monitored for changes in testicular volume (TV), serum total testosterone (T), serum inhibin-B, and sperm concentration.

Results

Complete testicular descent to the scrotal position was achieved in 5/6 patients (10/11 testes) after 4.7 ± 1.6 months of treatment. There was 44 ± 18%, 97.5% (IQR: 44–195), 10-fold (IQR: 3–19.6), and two-fold (IQR: 1.7–9.3) increase in stretched penile length, ultrasound measured TV, T level, and serum inhibin-B from baseline, respectively. In two pediatric cases, testicular descent occurred with isolated hMG therapy. At the last follow up (median: 23.5, IQR: 10.5–38.7 months), all the descended testes remained in scrotal position. In four pubertal/postpubertal age patients, continuous CGT (18–60 months) yielded T and inhibin-B levels of 16.64 ± 1.46 nmol/l and 106 ± 32.6 pg/mL, respectively. All the three patients with available semen analysis had sperm concentration of ≥5 million/mL and one of them achieved paternity.

Conclusions

A trial of CGT before orchiopexy may be considered in CHH males with cryptorchidism even beyond the narrow age-window of infancy. CGT may also have beneficial effects on future spermatogenesis and fertility outcomes in these patients.


Corresponding author: Tushar Bandgar, DM (Endocrinology), Professor, Head, Department of Endocrinology, KEM Hospital Campus, 103, 1st Floor, OPD Building, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 40012, India, Phone: +91 9820025037, E-mail:
Shreya Sharma and Ravikumar Shah should be considered joint first authors.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the role of Sneha Arya for her contribution in editing the genetics methodology in the manuscript.

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  3. Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

  4. Informed consent: Written informed consent was waived off because of the retrospective nature of the study.

  5. Ethical approval: Approval from the institutional review board (Institutional Ethical committee III, Seth G S Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai) was taken.

  6. Data Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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Received: 2020-12-01
Accepted: 2021-04-04
Published Online: 2021-04-26
Published in Print: 2021-07-27

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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