P-17: Body Mass Index and Sperm Counts Associated with Varicocele in Infertile Men

Background: Varicocele is a progressive disease and etiology of varicocele is not well known. Some studies have been reported that prevalence of varicocele decreases with increasing BMI. The aim of this study was to determine interrelation of varicocoele with height, body mass index (BMI) and sperm counts in infertile men. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the data of all patients who consulted for infertility at Fatemezahra Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center for six months. We filled out a form providing the age of men, marital age, height, weight, BMI, semen analysis, and presence or absence of varicocoele. Results: The data of 241 men, aged 21-64 years, were in clouded in the study. There were 94 (38.7%) men with varicocoele and 149 (61.3%) men without varicocoele. The mean age and BMI of the participants was 31.5 ± 6.3 and 27.7 ± 4.8 kg/m2, respectively. There were no significant differences in age, height, weight, and BMI among the men infertile with and without varicocoele. Percentage of varicocoele was the highest in oligospermia males and significantly higher than the men with normal sperm count (p= 0.035). Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicated that varicocele have some effects on sperm count as well as on pregnancy. The men with a greater BMI have not advantages in relieving the varicocele. Therefore, further study is proposed to elucidate association between BMI and varicocele.