RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Assessment of gonadal maturation by evaluation of spermaturia.
JF Archives of Disease in Childhood
JO Arch Dis Child
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
SP 1205
OP 1207
DO 10.1136/adc.65.11.1205
VO 65
IS 11
A1 F Schaefer
A1 J Marr
A1 C Seidel
A1 W Tilgen
A1 K Schärer
YR 1990
UL http://adc.bmj.com/content/65/11/1205.abstract
AB The urinary excretion of spermatozoa (spermaturia) reflects the achievement of exocrine testis function during male puberty. In order to test the sensitivity and practicability of repetitive urine sampling, we analysed the sediments of 1160 first morning urine specimens obtained on successive days from 129 healthy schoolboys aged 10.1 to 17.8 years for the presence of spermatozoa. The proportion of subjects with sperm positive urines increased from pubic hair stage (PH) 1 (6%) to PH 5 (92%) with a steep rise between PH 2 and 3. Estimated median age of first positive spermaturia ('spermarche') was 14.1 years. While at PH 1 to 4 all positive samples were found within the first five days of collection, at PH 5 cumulative frequency of spermaturia increased up to day 8. We conclude that repetitive morning urine sampling is a useful tool in assessing spermaturia and may be helpful to screen for testicular damage in epidemiological surveys.