Does severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) cause orchitis in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?
Hassan Alkhatatbeh, Dima Alzaghari, Abdelrazaq Alkhashman, Mohammed Azab, Ghazi Mohammad Al Edwan, Mohammad Abufaraj
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of clinical orchitis in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective clinical observational study using data of male patients who were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction testing between 1 March and 4 May 2020. Patients were categorised according to age groups and disease severity. Sociodemographic information and general clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and orchitis were collected. RESULTS: We identified a total of 253 male patients, with a mean (range) age 43 (1-78) years. Patients were followed-up until their recovery or for 21 days. We did not observe any symptoms or signs of orchitis in any patient during follow-up across all age groups and different disease status. CONCLUSION: Although we did not identify any patients with COVID-19 with symptoms or signs of orchitis, such an association cannot be excluded, and further studies are needed to validate our hypothesis and exclude any association at a molecular level. ABBREVIATIONS: hybridisation; RT-PCR: reverse transcriptase-PCR; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2; TMPRSS2: transmembrane protease, serine 2; WBC: white blood cell.