Open AccessVasitis: clinical and ultrasound confusion with inguinal hernia clarified by computed tomography
Author(s) -
Kathleen Eddy,
Bruce Piercy,
Richard Eddy
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
canadian urological association journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1920-1214
pISSN - 1911-6470
DOI - 10.5489/cuaj.679
Subject(s) - epididymitis , orchitis , medicine , spermatic cord , inguinal hernia , ultrasound , radiology , spermatic cord torsion , computed tomography , hernia , surgery , testicular torsion
Vasitis or inflammation of the vas deferens is a rarely describedcondition categorized by Chan & Schlegel1 as either generallyasymptomatic vasitis nodosa or the acutely painful infectious vasitis.Clinically, infectious vasitis presents with nonspecific symptomsof localized pain and swelling that can be confused with other,more common conditions such as epididymitis, orchitis, testiculartorsion, and inguinal hernia. Ultrasound with duplex Doppler scanningcan be used to exclude epididymitis, orchitis, and testiculartorsion. On the other hand, while inguinal hernia is difficult todifferentiate from vasitis using ultrasound, computed tomography(CT) is diagnostic. We describe 2 cases of vasitis with clinicaland ultrasound findings that initially were interpreted as inguinalhernias. In both patients, CT was diagnostic for vasitis showing anedematous spermatic cord and no hernia. Urine cultures in bothpatients were negative, but the symptoms resolved with antibiotictreatment.