Abstract
Cryptorchidism is one of the most common genital malformations in newborn males, but its etiology remains largely unknown. The observation of geographical variability in the prevalence of cryptorchidism suggests a role for environmental factors. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of this condition among Egyptian neonates.
The initial study population comprised 1000 neonates recruited from El Galaa maternity teaching hospital. To determine the risk factors for cryptorchidism in Egypt, 40 healthy full term infants were selected randomly during the same time period as a control group.
Twenty-nine cases of cryptorchidism per 1000 newborn males were detected, i.e. a frequency of 2.9%; 10 (34.5%) had bilateral cryptorchidism while 19 (65.5%) had a unilateral lesion. Other congenital anomalies were detected in 5 (17.2%) of the cryptorchid newborns. Five factors were significantly associated with higher risk of cryptorchidism: gestational age of 37 weeks or less, birth weight equal to or less than 2.75 kg, cesarean delivery, steroid therapy and twin pregnancy. Using logistic regression, birth weight ≤ 2.75 kg was the only independent factor predicting cryptorchidism, with an odds ratio of 10.3 and 95% confidence interval of 2.9–36.4.
These results highlight low birth weight as the cardinal risk factor for cryptorchidism. A larger scale multi-centric study is needed to clearly identify all the risk factors for cryptorchidism in Egyptian neonates.