An Unusual Case of Quadruple Polyorchidism in a Human Cadaver Mimicking Bilateral Lipoma
January 2022
in “
European journal of anatomy
”
TLDR A man had four testicles, two of which were outside the scrotum and looked like fatty lumps.
The study examined a rare case of polyorchidism, a congenital disorder characterized by the presence of more than two testicles, in a 96-year-old male cadaver. The cadaver had four testicles, a condition known as tetraorchidism. The supernumerary testes (SNTs) and supernumerary epididymides (SNEs) were infiltrated with adipose tissue, unlike their scrotal counterparts. The left SNT was supplied by the testicular artery, and the right SNT by the inferior epigastric artery. Testicular volumes were 26.5 cm3 and 23.7 cm3 for the left and right scrotal testes, and 12.3 cm3 and 0.55 cm3 for the left and right SNTs, respectively. The study suggests a new classification for polyorchidism of Type 3, Subgroup B, where the SNT is attached to the draining epididymis and vas deferens without reproductive potential and is located outside the scrotal sac. The study emphasizes the importance of correlating anatomical and histological findings in suspected polyorchids to avoid misdiagnosis of SNTs as benign lipomas.
