CRYPTORCHIDISM. — The failure of one or both testicles to descend, resulting in their absence from the scrotum (χρυπτός = hidden, ορχις = testicle); the defect is congenital, often familial and hereditary (frequency 1 in 100 in adults). A completely ectopic organ is more or less atrophied and always non-functional with regard to sperm formation (spermatogenesis), although the interstitial hormonal tissue may appear intact and active. For this reason, bilateral cryptorchidism generally presents normal primary and secondary sexual characteristics and normal potentia coeundi. According to canon law, it is considered impotence if the individual is incapable of emitting "true semen."
Depending on the case, surgical intervention, irradiation of the thymus, or opotherapy (anterior pituitary, testicular extracts) administered around the ages of 8–9, before the organ has undergone severe alterations, can preserve the physical integrity and spermatogenetic function of the gland.