About 2 percent of boys have undescended testis

(HealthDay)—About 2 percent of boys are diagnosed with undescended testis (UDT), according to a study published online Jan. 22 in Pediatrics.

Francisco Javier Schneuer, Ph.D., from the University of Sydney, and colleagues examined the prevalence of UDT, as well as the rates of and age at surgery. Record-linked birth and hospital data were obtained for all live-born infants in New South Wales, Australia, from 2001 to 2011.

The researchers identified 10,875 boys (2.1 percent) with a recorded diagnosis of UDT. Overall, 45.8 percent underwent corrective surgery, representing a cumulative prevalence of 9.6 per 1,000 male births. Of the surgeries, 5 percent were orchidectomies and 9 percent of boys underwent revision surgery. The median age at surgery was 16.6 months, which decreased from 21 months for boys born in 2001 to 13 months for those born in 2010. Sixty-seven percent of boys having surgery before 36 months had corrective surgery after the recommended age of 12 months; risk factors for having corrective surgery after 12 months included socioeconomic disadvantage, regional/remote area of residence, and lack of private health insurance.

"One in 50 boys born are diagnosed with UDT; two-thirds had no report of corrective surgery," the authors write. "The age at surgery is decreasing; however, two-thirds of surgeries are performed after 12 months of age."