Usefulness of Testicular Volume, Apparent Diffusion Coefficient, and Normalized Apparent Diffusion Coefficient in the MRI Evaluation of Infertile Men With Azoospermia

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to assess retrospectively the usefulness of testicular volume, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and normalized ADC as measured using MRI in predicting the histopathologic grade of azoospermia and in differentiating obstructive from nonobstructive azoospermia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A computerized search generated a list of 30 infertile men with azoospermia who had undergone both scrotal MRI and testis biopsy. MRI-determined testicular volumes, ADCs, and normalized ADCs were compared between infertile men with obstructive azoospermia and those with nonobstructive azoospermia. The normalized ADC was calculated as ADC of the testis divided by the ADC of the bladder lumen. RESULTS: /s yielded sensitivity of 92.86% and specificity of 56.25%) and 0.875 (a cutoff value of > 0.425 yielded sensitivity of 78.57% and specificity of 93.75%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Testicular volume, ADC, and normalized ADC, as measured using MRI, are useful in predicting the histopathologic grade of azoospermia and in differentiating obstructive from nonobstructive azoospermia.