According to a new research, infertility in men can now be treated with a minimally invasive procedure which may reduce the need for surgery while increasing couples' chances of becoming pregnant.  Varicoceles, a tangled network of dilated or varicose veins in the scrotum, afflict 10% to 15% of otherwise healthy men and these can interfere with sperm function and male fertility. How this condition causes fertility problems in men is not certain and the traditional treatment for this condition till now has been open surgery.

The findings, which appear in the journal Radiology, indicate that a procedure called retrograde venous embolization can reduce infertility in men by blocking the excessive blood flow to the veins and allowing them to shrink back to normal size via a tiny catheter. A small catheter is inserted through a small incision in the groin and uses an imaging tool to guide it to the affected varicocele. In most cases the patient can return to work the next day. This procedure improves semen quality and increases the pregnancy rate.

Researcher Sebastian Flacke, MD, PhD, now associate professor of radiology at the Tufts University School of Medicine, says "Venous embolization, a simple treatment using a catheter through the groin, can help to improve sperm function in infertile men. With the patients' improved sperm function, more than one-quarter of their healthy partners were able to become pregnant."

In a study involving 223 infertile men with 228 varicoceles who underwent retrograde venous embolization results showed that 226 of the patients' 228 varicoceles were successfully treated with embolization. Researchers did a semen analysis on 173 of the men three months after the treatment to find sperm activity (motility) and sperm count had significantly improved. Six months after the procedure, 45 couples or 26% had become pregnant.

Though the varicocele embolization was associated with significant improvements in both sperm count and motility, the average values were still considered abnormal based on World Health Organization guidelines. Experts feel this treatment could be a "useful adjunct to in vitro fertilization therapy."