Purpose : Although retractile testes are frequently found in the pediatric population,
there are controversies in the management of retractile testes. We investigated the
necessity of treatment for retractile testes by analyzing their histologic findings.
Materials and Methods : Sixty-one testicular biopsies were performed during
orchiopexy from 36 boys(range: 1.3-12.9 years, mean: 5.4 years) with retractile testes(11
unilateral, 50 bilateral) and 115 testicular biopsies from 83 cryptorchid patients(range:
0.6-15.0 years, mean: 3.7 years, 51 unilateral, 64 bilateral). Parameters for both Sertoli
cell and germ cell were determined in each group.
Results : The average tubula degeneration phase(TDP) Ⅴ-Ⅶ were 0.23±0.18 for
retractile testes and 0.22±0.17 for cryptorchid testes and were not statistically different.
Both the average sertoli cell index(SCI) and mean spermatogonia per tubules(S/T) value
were statistically different between retractile and cryptrochid testes with values of 26.81
±6.75, 23.04±5.85(p<0.01) and 2.96±1.33, 0.61 ±0.87(p<0.01), respectively.
Conclusions : Although S/T value of retractile testes was higher than that of
cryptorchid testes, Sertoli cell degenerative patterns were similar. These findings might
indicate that retractile testis needs treatment like cryptorchid testis does. However,
further investigation is warranted to elucidate whether these changes are normal
variations since changes are observed in both Sertoli & germ cells in normal boys as
they are aging.