Patient's question:
When my wife and I went to the hospital for a pre-pregnancy health check-up, the doctor said I might have an epididymal malformation. At the time, the doctor didn't provide specific proof, but I didn't feel any discomfort myself, so I didn't worry about it. What are the potential harms of an epididymal malformation?Doctor's answer:
The epididymis is a slender, flattened duct that connects to the testis and is located posterior and lateral to the testis. 10 to 15 testicular efferent ductules coil into a conical shape, and their ends merge to form a 4 to 6 cm long epididymal duct with significant coiling. According to Turck's examination of 94 cases of non-cryptorchid patients with conditions such as hydrocele, hydrocele of the tunica vaginalis, and varicocele, 83.9% of the head and tail of the epididymis were adhered to the testis, while there was a certain distance between the body of the epididymis and the testis. Only 12.5% of cases showed complete adherence of the epididymis to the testis. Most patients with epididymal malformations suffer from infertility.