Ejaculate in Differential Diagnosis

It is perhaps worth mentioning that examination of ejaculate can be helpful in the diagnosis of men with bronchiectasis of unknown origin: if they have cystic fibrosis, these patients usually have azoospermia, but unlike patients with Klinefelter syndrome they usually have testes of normal size. In primary ciliary dyskinesia, sperm are either immotile or very poorly motile. Both findings can indicate a targeted molecular genetic diagnosis, especially when there are also questions of family planning or evaluation of the recurrence risk in children. However, it should first be verified whether this diagnosis may give rise to problems of dubious paternity concerning existing children.

DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2012.0315a

Prof. Dr. med. Hans-Dieter Rott

Erlangen, hdrott@gmx.de

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that no conflict of interest exists.