Cryptorchidism

[Leema]

I hope anyone with good links for me to read up on cryptorchidism could post those good links for me!

I'm mostly interested in its inheritance.

EDIT: Okay, just found something that called it autosomal recessive. It is as simple as this?

Edited January 4, 2009 by Leema

[Dackel]

Hi,

Retained Testicles: Overview and Treatment

Overview

The testes are the male reproductive glands that normally start off positioned in the abdomen as embryo (fetal) development progresses during pregnancy (gestation). They normally travel down through the abdomen from their initial location near the kidney, out through the inguinal ring in the groin, into the scrotum soon after birth.

Retained (cryptorchid) testicles are those that do not complete this journey by 24 weeks of age. Sometimes they have migrated out of the abdomen and are sitting in the tissues just in front of the scrotum around the ring that provides the point of exit from the abdomen. Testes that are retained inside the abdomen are subject to high core body temperature and do not produce sperm. As a result they usually atrophy or waste away.

Retained Testes and Sertoli Cell Tumors

Retained testes are more likely to develop sertoli cell tumors. Dogs with retained testes has 13 times the risk of this tumor compared with a dog that has normally descended testes in the scrotum. When this tumor is present, the one testicle out in the scrotum will often become larger than normal, and signs related to an increase in female hormones estrogen and progesterone will occur. If left untreated, the high estrogen state associated with sertoli cell tumors will lead to problems with blood cell production. Sertoli cell tumors also spread around the body (metastasize) in about one of every ten dogs with this cancer.

Treatment

If a dog still has a testicle that is not in the scrotum by sexual maturity (7-9 months of age), castration should be performed to remove both the retained and descended testes.

The surgery requires an incision either in the skin of the groin area, or an incision into the abdomen so that the retained one or two testicles can be surgically removed. The scrotal testis of the unilateral cryptorchid is also removed through a separate incision just in front of the scrotum. Once the testes are removed, testicle tumor risk is gone.

http://www.bakalo.com/cryptorchidism.htm

Hope this helps

Petra and Felix

[Leema]

Sorry, I forgot about this. Thanks for your response, Petra. The link posted was useful.