Morphological alterations of rat testes after intraabdominal dissection of spermatic cord vessels

Objective To simulate a laparoscopic F S procedure in young rats and evaluated the morphologic alterations in detail with regard to testicular atrophy.Methods Thirty day old Wistar rats divided into 2 groups underwent laparoscopic sham operation and unilateral laparoscopic F S procedure.Detailed morphological investigations were performed at 7 different postoperative intervals between the 9th day and 18th month.Results Laparoscopic F S procedure induced testicular atrophy in 85% of the operated testes with different degrees of spermatogenic arrest. Mild(blood testis barrier damaged), severe (Sertoli cell only syndrome) and complete (normal testicular structure collapsed) testicular atrophy were used to define atrophy according to the morphologic alterations observed. In mild or severe atrophy, the testicular size of the operated testis was only slightly reduced compared to the age matched controls, whereas the contra lateral testis was not involved. In complete atrophy (49% of the operated testes) a striking size reduction with necrosis of the testicular parenchyma and marked central microlithiasis was observed. The contra lateral testes revealed in all cases mild or severe atrophy beginning as early as the 45th day postoperatively and eventually developed severe atrophy 18 months later. Parallel to the testicular atrophy, Leydig cell (LC) hyperplasia developed in mild or severe atrophic testes and finally reached a typical adenoma size in the operated and the contra lateral atrophic testes. In the complete atrophic testes, LC hyperplasia also developed.Conclusions An animal model for laparoscopic F S procedure could be established in prepubertal Wistar rats. This laparoscopic F S procedure induced a high incidence of testicular atrophy in various severities, which could result in sub or infertility due to impaired spermatogenesis, as well as LC hyperplasia or adenoma formation in the atrophic testes.