Behind the complicated appearing term “cryptorchidism” hides a positional anomaly of the testis, thus a wrong positioning of the testis in the body. Originally the “Kryptorchismus” describes a not discoverable testis. This is usually the case when the testis has not descended completely into the scrotum during embryonic development and has remained in the abdominal cavity.
In practice, however, the term cryptorchidism has become established as a term for all possible positional anomalies of the testis. There are different forms of undescended testicles and additionally different forms of “testicular ectopia”. While an undescended testis – as the name already suggests – describes an incomplete descent of the testis from the abdominal cavity, the testicular ectopia describes a deviation from the correct path of descent. In a testicular ectopy, for example, the testis descends to the bottom of the abdomen, but then lies under the skin of the thigh.
Forms
There are two main types of testicular anomalies: The testis is originally located in the abdominal cavity. Only from the embryonic phase until the second year of life the testis descends into the scrotum. A non-descent of the testis is called undescended testis.
There are again different forms of this – depending on the place where the testicle has finished its descent. For example, an inguinal testis describes a testis that has remained in the inguinal canal. A sliding testis is a testis that can be moved by external pressure between the scrotum and the inguinal canal.
Its original position is also the inguinal canal.
- The undescended testicle
The pendulum testis shows the same phenomenon as the sliding testis, except that the change of position is not caused by external pressure, but for example by sexual pathogens. The last subform of the undescended testicle is the cryptorchidism.
As mentioned at the beginning, cryptorchidism has a special role, since it is actually a subform, but in urological practice it is used synonymously for all forms of testicular malposition. In the original sense it describes a hidden (Greek “kryptos”) testis, which is usually found in the abdominal cavity. It thus also represents a form of undescended testicle.
The term -ektopia comes from the Greek word “ektos” (outside) and “topos” (the place). A testicular ectopia is therefore an “external location” of the testis. This does not say much in itself, because a “non-locality” can be anything.
Therefore, the ectopy of the testis distinguishes between several forms. In “transverse testicular ectopia” the testis comes to rest in the opposite scrotum. In one scrotum there are two testicles, in the other none at all.
The penile ectopia of the testis means a displacement of the testis into the limb, the perineal ectopia of the testis means a displacement into the perineal area. Finally, the testis can also come to rest in the subcutaneous tissue of the thigh, which is called femoral testicular ectopia. All these forms are often called cryptorchidism in practice for simplification. A cryptorchidism is inversely present whenever the testis is not lying in its anatomically correct place in the scrotum.
- The testicular ectopy