erik is a young healthy 21 year old with dreams of being a professional football
ID: 68382 • Letter: E
Question
erik is a young healthy 21 year old with dreams of being a professional football player with the nfl. after a particularly close game with his college's rival team, erik got into a fight and the other player kneed him in the groin. erik collapsed in extreme pain and his fellows took him to the ER , where he is treated for testicular torsion and a hydeocele (fluid filled sac in the tunica vaginalis). He returns to normal life and after college is drafted by the NFL, where during his first year on the New York Giants he developes a ferocious cough with occasional bloody sputum , dizziness, blurred vision and headaches, but fearful of loosing his place on the team he does not seek treatment with the team doctor. this continued until Erik fainted during practice one day and was forced to see the team medical staff. After being examined and running tests, the doctor asked Erickson about the large mass on his right testicle and Erik replies that it was bothering him, but only when he didn't have it cupped. The doctor ordered a CT scans of Eriks lungs , head, and grion. the next day Erik is diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer with 7 minor tumors in his lungs and a larger tumor in his brain. Given the above information about Erik and what you know about male reproductive health, answer the following questions : How does Eriks testicular cancer arise and then metasize so quickly? Why was the fluid swelling in his testicle a hydrocele and not a spermatocele or a varicocele? The doctor recommends that Erik gets a orchiectomy-why is this a logical treatment choice?
Explanation / Answer
To date, no one really knows. Researchers study patterns of cancer in the population to discover whether some people are more likely than others to develop certain cancers.
When a testicle twists around in the scrotum, the condition is called torsion of the testis. An emergency operation is usually needed to treat this condition. It most commonly occurs in teenage boys. Newborn babies and younger children sometimes develop this problem. It is uncommon over the age of 25 but does occur sometimes in older adults. Hydrocele as mentioned earlier as to being one cause for swollen testicles is common in newborn infants and the elderly. Not overlooking that any age group can be affected also. Hydrocele happens as a result of fluids stocking up between the two membranes that cover the testicles. One or both testicles can swell.
Orchiectomy is the removal of the testicles. The penis and the scrotum, the pouch of skin that holds the testicles, are left intact. An orchiectomy is done to stop most of the body's production of testosterone, which prostate cancer usually needs in order to continue growing.
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