Comparison of scrotal scintigraphy and thermography for the diagnosis of varicocele

Varicocele is the most frequent cause of male subfertility. Several invasive and noninvasive techniques can be used to visualize scrotal phlebectasies. In this study sequential scintigraphy after intravenous injection of ^99mTc-albumin was compared with tele-thermography. The normal and pathological images are described. The more obvious the clinical condition, the more lesions were revealed by scintigraphy (29.6% in subfertile men suspected of having variococele; 76.9% in patients with first degree varicocele; and 100% in Grades II and III cases). In 55 cases (of a total of 76 cases explored by radioisotopic techniques), the comparison of the thermographic results with the scintigraphy results suggests that scrotal scintigraphy is less sensitive. However, there are more false positive thermographies expressed as a discordance with clinical examination, which indicates higher specificity of scintigraphy. In conclusion scrotal scintigraphy cannot be considered as the screening procedure of first choice for varicocele, but it can give complementary information, especially when thermographic results are at variance with the clinical examination.