Male infertility in a private Kenyan hospital.

Objective: To study the incidence and aetiology of male infertility in Mombasa, Kenya.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: The Mombasa Hospital Private Clinics, from January 1996 to 2001.

Subjects: Forty three men, aged between 21 and 55 years, referred to me with the chief complaint of infertility of unknown cause.

Intervention: Patients were managed conservatively and operatively.

Measurement: Histological and laboratory evaluations.

Results: Of the 43 patients observed, ten (23%) presented with signs of hypogonadism, fifteen (35%) with signs of acute and sub-acute inflammatory process (pain and swelling), four (9%) and prolactinaemia, two (5%) had signs of gonadotropin insufficiency and another two (5%) patients had varicocoeles. We did not establish the cause in ten (23%) patients.

Conclusion: Male infertility in Mombasa appears to be primarily due to hypogonadism (23%), although in an equal proportion the cause is not obvious (idiopathic). A significant number of the infertility cases can be attributed to easily treatable conditions such as infections and infestations (16%). The sample available is however not big enough to warrant any major conclusions as to the overall male infertility status in establishing possible avenues for future research.