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FOCAL ATROPHY OF THE SEMINIFEROUS TUBULE IN THE HUMAN TESTIS

1979; Volume: 29; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1440-1827.1979.tb00955.x

0001-6632

Shigeru Hatakeyama, Touichiro Takizawa, Yutaka Kawahara,

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Three types of focal atrophy of the seminiferous tubule, A, B and A+B type, were recognized in the 250 testes obtained from human subjects who died of acute death. The A‐type consists of complete hyalinized scarring of the tubule and the B‐type of varing degrees of tubular collapse. The A+B type shows combined atrophy of A and B‐type in which B‐type occurs peripherally to A‐type occlusion in sequence and might be induced by local obstruction of luminal flow. Focal tubulitis is uncommon but has been observed in the A+B type atrophy which is characterized by sperm retention and the presence of sperm‐phagocytic macrophages in the lumen. Areas around the rete testis and periseptal zones of the testis are preferential sites for tubular atrophy. B‐type atrophy as an abortive form of A‐type is predominant in the younger groups of the second to third decades, and the incidence of A‐type increases after the fifth decade. It is suggested that A and B‐type are brought about by locally limited ischemia in relation to circulatory disturbance with arteriolar hyalinosis which commonly appears focally in the postpuberal testis.