pubmed-article:2099671 | pubmed:abstractText | Sequential scrotal scintigraphy was used to study testicular blood flow in 122 patients with clinically diagnosed varicocele. The sensitivity of scrotal scintigraphy was 91.7% on the whole sequential images. The late-phase image was superior in sensitivity to that of the early-phase images. The difference in time between the arrival of radioactivity in the iliac artery and in the pampiniform plexus grew shorter with increasing grade of varicocele. Time-activity curves were classified into four patterns. One type (Type 3), which was more frequently observed in grade II and grade III varicocele than grade I varicocele, showed a decreased arterial perfusion of the left side lesion. It is concluded that scintigraphic analysis using both sequential images and time-activity curves is not only highly representative of the grade of clinically palpable varicocele, but also provides a better understanding of local hemodynamics in the scrotum. | lld:pubmed |