TITLE:
Nonpalpable Testicular Masses—Should We Be Worried?
AUTHORS:
Hamid Abboudi, Sachin Malde, Ahmad Mchaourab, Ben Eddy, Nitin Shrotri
KEYWORDS:
Biopsy; Neoplasms; Orchidectomy; Testis; Ultrasonography
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Urology,
Vol.3 No.7,
November
25,
2013
ABSTRACT: Objective: To report our experience of a contemporary
series of patients who underwent radical orchidectomy for non-palpable testicular
masses, in order to comment on their malignant potential and identify any
factors predictive of a malignant outcome. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the case-notes of patients who underwent radical inguinal
orchidectomy over a 22-month period between January 2010 and October 2011. Results: A total of 71 patients were analysed, with a mean (range) age of 45 years (17 - 82). Overall, 41 (57.7%)
orchidectomies were malignant and 30 (42.3%) were benign. There were 20 (28%) non-palpable
testicular masses found incidentally on ultrasound, and of these 40% were
malignant and 60% were benign. In total 6 of these non-palpable lesions were
Conclusion: In view of the significant rate of malignancy in
non-palpable testicular masses we recommend surgical intervention over
surveillance alone. However, as the majority of these lesions may eventually
turn out to be benign, we suggest that testis-sparing surgery is the optimal
approach, and should be performed in centres where the required radiological,
histopathological, and surgical expertise exists.