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MORPHOMETRIC STUDIES OF THE SEMINIFEROUS TUBULES IN ELDERLY MEN WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE HISTOLOGY OF THE PROSTATE
Author(s) -
Harbitz Thorstein B.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
acta pathologica microbiologica scandinavica section a pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0365-4184
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1973.tb03578.x
Subject(s) - hyperplasia , prostate , medicine , autopsy , endocrine system , hormone , carcinoma , pathogenesis , endocrinology , castration , physiology , cancer
The weight of the seminiferous tubules (W TU ) was estimated and analysed in a consecutive autopsy series of men over 40 years. This series also formed the basis for a comprehensive study of morphological characteristics of the testes, the pituitary gland and the adrenal glands in men with prostatic hyperplasia and neoplasia. Among 172 patients who had not previously undergone prostatic surgery or received oestrogenic hormones, WTU varied considerably at all ages and showed no significant alteration with advancing age. At simple and multiple regression analysis, body weight and death from cardiovascular disease were positively correlated with WTu, whereas protracted terminal illness apparently reduced W Tu significantly. W TU perse showed no relation to the presence of benign nodular hyperplasia (BNH) or carcinoma (C) of the prostate, and did not discriminate between the various forms of abnormal prostatic growth encountered. However, patients with BNH generally showed a conspicuous reduction in W TU with age, whereas C was associated, to a larger extent, with preserved tubular mass in advanced years. W TU was moderately lowered in 24 men who had been subjected to prostatic surgery, and oestrogen treatment for prostatic carcinoma apparently resulted in severe degeneration of the seminiferous tubules. The results are in accordance with the assumption that some form of endocrine impairment at the gonadal and/or pituitary level is involved in the pathogenesis of prostatic hyperplasia and neoplasia.