Testicular Vasculitis Associated with Treatment with Sex Hormones

Drug-induced vasculitis are inflammations of the vessels, generally small in size, caused by the use of different pharmacological agents. They are considered the most frequent form of vasculitis and preferentially affect the skin and, less frequently, the kidney and lung. Only a minority of patients develop systemic vasculitis. In most cases, healing is complete once drug administration is stopped, and only rarely is a systemic process triggered that requires immunosuppressive therapy. In the systematic study of surgical specimens of testicles, we have observed two groups with different types of vasculitis, groups which had in common having been subjected to prolonged drug treatment, without having a previous pathology. The largest group consisted of people with gender identity disorders treated with oestrogens and antiandrogens. The second group were men with hypogonadism treated with testosterone. In none of the patients did the use of drugs usually related to vasculitis appear in their clinical history, so it is very likely that in both situations the treatments were responsible for the vasculitis.