Hormonal, Histological and Chromosomal Studies in Adult Males with Testicular Disorders1

Abstract

The levels of plasma FSH, LH and testosterone were measured in 56 males who complained of infertility. Correlation between the hormonal results and seminal fluid sperm concentration was made. No apparent correlation existed between the various degrees of oligospermia and plasma FSH titers. Three conditions were invariably associated with elevated plasma FSH levels: (1) severe seminiferous tubular hyalinization, (2) azoospermia (excluding those patients with normal testicular histology) and (3) Sertoli-cell-only syndrome. Of interest was the observation that many of these patients additionally demonstrated abnormalities in the LH-testosterone axis. Careful attention was made to exclude patients with Klinefelter's syndrome in this consideration. These data indicate that previous concepts that isolated defects of spermatogenesis exist in all such patients have been erroneous, particularly in the category of Sertoli-cell-only syndrome. Cytogenetic studies identified chromosomal abnormalities in 11 of the 56 patients studied in this series. These included XXY, XY/XXY, XX, XYY and D-D translocation patterns.