MALE HYPOGONADISM - A REPORT OF 6 CASES

Six case-reports form the basis for an analysis of diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of male hypogonadism in Ouagadougou. Diagnosis was often delayed because of a reluctance to discuss sexual problems and/or because of management mistakes. Parents and practitioners should be encouraged to investigate delayed puberty, sexual and libido disorders, and abnormal testicular volume. Laboratory tests establish the diagnosis of hypogonadism and determine its mechanism. Two of the six patients had infectious destructive lesions of the testes and the other four had hypothalamopituitary dysfunction (one case each of craniopharyngioma, acromegaly, pituitary tumor of indeterminate nature, and suspected De Morsier syndrome). Treatment consisted only in replacement hormone therapy in patients with testicular disease. The patients with craniopharyngioma and acromegaly had surgery in another country.