- Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences
- Vol: 44 Issue: 2
- Anti TNF-a therapy might be responsible for an increased incidence of varicocele in patients with an...
Anti TNF-a therapy might be responsible for an increased incidence of varicocele in patients with ankylosing spondylitis
Authors : Ömer YILMAZ, Yunus UGAN, Mahmut YENER, Mehmet UMUL, Mustafa KAYAN, Aykut Recep AKTAŞ, Elif Nisa ÜNLÜ, Bünyamin KISACIK, Bumin DEĞİRMENCİ, Meltem ÇETİN
Pages : 311-316
Doi:10.3906/sag-1302-136
View : 14 | Download : 2
Publication Date : 9999-12-31
Article Type : Makaleler
Abstract :To evaluate the effects of anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) therapy on the frequency of varicocele in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) using color Doppler ultrasound. Materials and methods: The patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with AS who were on anti-TNF-a treatment and patients with AS who were not regularly taking any antiinflammatory drugs. Thirty-one healthy volunteers were included as controls. Results: Left-sided varicocele was determined in 14 patients of Group 1 (44%), 10 patients of Group 2 (33%), and 7 of the controls (23%). There was a statistically significant difference only between Group 1 and controls (P = 0.009). However, right-sided varicocele was determined in 12 patients of Group 1 (38%), 2 patients of Group 2 (6%), and 2 of the controls (6%) (P = 0.01 vs. Group 2, P = 0.005 vs. controls). Conclusion: The present study shows that patients with AS who were taking anti-TNF-a therapy had an increased prevalence of right-sided and bilateral varicocele compared to patients with AS who were not taking any disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and the healthy control group.Keywords : Key words: Varicocele, ankylosing spondylitis, color Doppler ultrasound