Bilateral Retractile Testis: A Possible Risk Factor for Male Infertility

Healthy youth is an asset and strength for economic and social growth of any society. Developmental changes during puberty of youngsters need proper guidance to avoid future physical, physiological and psychological ailments. Bilateral Retractile Testis (BRT) is a health problem if remains unnoticed till adolescence can lead to tribulations. BRT may affect testicular parenchyma and spermatogenesis. Cremasteric muscles (muscles attached with testes) pull the testes up into groin so it randomly moves up and down and do not reside in its natural pouch always. It has been a controversial issue in male infertility as retraction may affect infertility. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of male infertility among patients with Bilateral Retractile Testis. Methodology: A total of 200 male patients were enrolled after the power calculation, with different reproductive health problems between the age of 18 - 40 years during the year 2016 at Reproductive health clinic Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center (JPMC), Karachi. 25 male patients were reported with infertility and BRT. The data was collected using self-developed questionnaire including outdoor patients’ physical check-up, manual testicular examination as size and shape were done. Patient height, weight, blood pressure, their lifestyle, and dressing regarding wearing tight jeans habits were asked. Semen analysis was carried out showing abnormality in sperm count, motility or morphology and entered and analysed in the SPSS version 10. Means and percentages were calculated. Result: Out of 200 male infertile patients, a total of 25 (12.5%) patients with a diagnosis of BRT were found in the sample with the mean age of 29 years. Moreover, it was identified that those having BRT also have low motility of the sperms. Based on the results it was concluded that BRT is a possible cause of male infertility in Pakistani population. Conclusion: BRT is a possible risk factor to affect sperm motility and low sperm motility can lead to male infertility. The study estimates the prevalence of 12.5% among our sampled men.