Testicular Torsion

Cunningham (1960) observed testicular torsion in 3 brothers, aged 14, 15 and 21. The father and 2 other brothers had hypermobility of the testicle but had not suffered acute torsion. The anatomic peculiarity is presumably inherited and is either autosomal dominant (obviously male-limited), or Y-linked. Castilla et al. (1975) reported neonatal testicular torsion in 2 brothers. The authors favored X-linked or autosomal recessive inheritance. Collins and Broecker (1989) described a family in which a father and 3 brothers had torsion of the spermatic cord. All of 3 sons presented at the age of 16 years with acute unilateral testicular pain. The genetics in this family is not completely clear because although all 3 sons had the same mother, the affected father was the sire of only 2 of the 3. Collins and Broecker (1989) found reports of 4 families.