Unresolved abdominal mass in an adult cryptorchid testis: a case report

Ali Asghar Darzi¹, Arsalan Aliramaji¹, Mir Saeid Ramezani^2
1Department of Surgery, Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Babol Medical University, Babol, Mazandaran, Iran; ²Emergency Ward, Babol Clinic Hospital, Babol, Mazandaran, Iran

Abstract: This case study aims to report an unresolved abdominal mass in an adult with cryptorchid testis and provide a review of related literature. We investigated a 54-year-old man who had cryptorchidism with a history of left orchiectomy 18 years prior. He was diagnosed with an intra-abdominal testicular mass after referring to the emergency ward with pelvic pain. The incidence of testicular cancer in undescended testicles is 40 times greater in the general population. In developed countries, the existence of undescended testicles in adult population is rare, which could be due to systematic practice of elective orchidopexy before the second year of life as well as orchiectomy in post-adolescent patients with undescended testicles. Despite these preventive measures, there are still some isolated cases of intra-abdominal testicular tumors in adults.

Keywords: testicular tumor, seminoma, cryptorchidism, alpha fetoprotein (α-FP), beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (β-HCG)