Equine cryptorchid testicles; variation
Keywords: equine, stallion, cryptorchid, epididymis
Image size: 1800 x 884px
These are views of normal and cryptorchid testicles taken from the same two animals; one stallion on the left and the other on the right. The images show that there can be considerable variation in the distance between the tail of the epididymis and the testicle. In the left image, this distance is very short and the testicle was seen immediately by the surgeon when the tail of the epididymis was grasped during cryptorchidectomy. In the image on the right, the tail of the epididymis is a long distance away from the testicle. This may account for the fact that inexperienced surgeons sometimes remove the tail of the epididymis in the belief that this is an extremely small, hypoplastic testicle; leaving the testicle itself in the abdomen.
These are views of normal and cryptorchid testicles taken from the same two animals; one stallion on the left and the other on the right. The images show that there can be considerable variation in the distance between the tail of the epididymis and the testicle. In the left image, this distance is very short and the testicle was seen immediately by the surgeon when the tail of the epididymis was grasped during cryptorchidectomy. In the image on the right, the tail of the epididymis is a long distance away from the testicle. This may account for the fact that inexperienced surgeons sometimes remove the tail of the epididymis in the belief that this is an extremely small, hypoplastic testicle; leaving the testicle itself in the abdomen.
It is important for surgeons to realize that this variation
exists between stallions with cryptorchid testicles.
