Hypogonadism: Its Prevalence and Diagnosis

Anna Ross; Shalender Bhasin

doi:10.1016/j.ucl.2016.01.002

Hypogonadism: Its Prevalence and Diagnosis

Urol Clin North Am. 2016 May;43(2):163-76. doi: 10.1016/j.ucl.2016.01.002.

Authors

Anna Ross¹, Shalender Bhasin²

Affiliations

¹ Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
² Research Program in Men's Health: Aging and Metabolism, The Center for Clinical Investigation, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: sbhasin@partners.org.

PMID: 27132573
DOI: 10.1016/j.ucl.2016.01.002

Abstract

Hypogonadism is a clinical syndrome, which results from the failure of the testes to produce physiologic levels of testosterone and a normal number of spermatozoa due to defects at one or more levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Primary hypogonadism results from malfunction at the level of the testes due to a genetic cause, injury, inflammation, or infection. Hypothalamic and/or pituitary failure leads to secondary hypogonadism, most often as a result of genetic defects, neoplasm, or infiltrative disorders. The signs and symptoms of hypogonadism depend on the age of onset, severity of androgen deficiency, and underlying cause of androgen deficiency.

Keywords: Androgen deficiency; Diagnosis; Hypogonadism; Prevalence.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Hypogonadism / diagnosis*
Hypogonadism / epidemiology*
Hypogonadism / etiology
Hypogonadism / physiopathology
Male
Testosterone / analysis

Substances

Testosterone