Tuberculous abscess of the testicle in AIDS: sonographic demonstration

Ultrasound of Tropical and Infectious Diseases That Affect the Scrotum

Ultrasonography of the scrotum permits assessment of testicular and extratesticular masses with high sensitivity. It can differentiate a variety of conditions involving the scrotum, testicles, and epididymis with similar clinical manifestations, including infectious and tropical diseases. The authors performed conventional and color Doppler ultrasonographic examinations in 76 patients who presented with scrotal pain, swelling, and/or tenderness. Their diagnoses included sexually transmitted disease (eg, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydial infection), tuberculosis, mumps, and various tropical diseases (eg, filariasis, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, paracoccidioidomycosis). The most common imaging findings were enlarged hypoechoic testes, hypervascularity, small hydroceles, and cutaneous edema. This report reviews these and other possible presentations of tropical and infectious diseases affecting the scrotum, emphasizing ultrasound findings that facilitate diagnosis.

Sonographic findings in tuberculous epididymitis and epididymo-orchitis

PURPOSE

This paper presents the sonographic findings in scrotums of patients affected with tuberculous epididymitis or epididymo-orchitis.

METHODS

Eighteen patients with a total of 22 abnormal hemiscrotums (4 patients had bilateral lesions) underwent scrotal sonography. Pathologic confirmation was obtained via epididymectomy in 10 cases, epididymo-orchiectomy in 7 cases, and scrotal exploration and biopsy in 3 cases. The histopathologic diagnosis was tuberculous epididymitis in 12 cases and epididymo-orchitis in 8 cases.

RESULTS

Lesions involved the head of the epididymis in 8 cases, the tail in 5 cases, and the entire epididymis in 9 cases. The enlarged epididymis was hypoechoic in 13 cases, hyperechoic in 2 cases, and of mixed echogenicity in 7 cases. The echotexture was heterogeneous in 17 cases and homogeneous in 5 cases. Testicular involvement in 7 cases appeared as a diffusely enlarged hypoechoic testis in 2 cases, an ill-defined hypoechoic lesion in 1 case, a well-demarcated hypoechoic lesion in 2 cases, and multiple small hypoechoic nodules in an enlarged testis in 2 cases. Hydrocele, sinus tract, and extratesticular calcifications were seen in 12, 4, and 2 cases, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The heterogeneous and hypoechoic swelling of the epididymis or the concomitant hypoechoic lesion of the testis with associated sinus tract or extratesticular calcifications may be helpful in the diagnosis of tuberculous epididymitis or epididymo-orchitis, especially in patients with known genitourinary tuberculosis.

Testicular pseudotumor in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

We describe a case of testicular pseudotumor evaluated with both diagnostic ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The findings were inconclusive and eventually radical orchiectomy and pathologic analysis were required to make the diagnosis. The typical US and MR findings of both inflammatory and neoplastic lesions of the testis are discussed.

Chronic hematocele complicating renal failure and hemodialysis

A patient with a recent history of genitourinary tuberculosis, chronic renal failure and hemodialysis presented with a slow growing scrotal swelling that had enlarged during the last 3 years. Physical examination and sonography were suspicious for testicular tumor, and surgical exploration and inguinal orchiectomy were performed. Ultimately the mass proved to be a chronic hematocele, a rare complication of uremic coagulopathy and hemodialysis. Because hematocele may clinically and sonographically resemble a testicular tumor, the proper management of a complex multiseptated scrotal mass without obvious history suggestive of hematocele is surgical exploration and orchiectomy. Awareness of this common presentation may obviate orchiectomy.