Identification Of A Clinicopathological Correlation Between Prevalence Of Testicular Torsion And Temperature In Adolescent Males Between Ten And Eighteen Years Of Age In The North Texas Climate

The objective of this study was to provide a detailed analysis of testicular torsion in adolescent males diagnosed at a single institution between January 2001 and June 2013, and to assess whether a correlation exists between prevalence of testicular torsion and atmospheric temperature in the 10-18 year adolescent male population in this region. Researchers collected available information regarding onset of symptoms, time of presentation, and radiological time frames (i.e. onset to surgery window, etc.). Pathological and clinical information regarding laterality and seasonality was also collected. Only descriptive analysis is available at the time of this abstract. A 179 number of patients met criteria for inclusion in the study. Of those, 40.54% identified as Caucasian, 27.57% as African/American and 2.16% as Asian, with 1.08% falling under the category of “Other.” The average age of patients was 13.8 years. Of these, left sided torsion was present in 53.1%, while right sided torsion was present in 44.7%. Bilateral torsion was identified in 2.2% of patients. Clinical findings resulted in orchiectomy in 36.3% of all patients. Our percentage of patients undergoing orchiectomy is in keeping with reports in the literature that approximately one third of all cases of clinically diagnosed torsion result in orchiectomy. Additionally, as is often mentioned as a risk factor for testicular torsion, our study suggests there may be an association with a decreased atmospheric temperature considering only left-sided torsion, based on the raw data collected. Given the annual Fort Worth temperature of 65.25°F, left-sided torsion occurred during an atmospheric temperature of 61.8°F. However, the atmospheric temperature at the time which right-sided torsion occurred did not deviate from the annual temperature, occurring at an average temperature of 65.2°F. And the average temperature including all torsions was recorded at 63.41°F, a 1.84°F difference. Statistical analyses are pending; however, our results may be more in line with those reports that suggest that cold weather causing testicular torsion may be unsubstantiated.