Path. [mod.L., f. L. varic- VARIX + Gr. κήλη tumor. So F. varicocèle.] Varicose condition or dilatation of the spermatic veins.

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1736.  A. Monro, in Med. Ess. & Obs. (1742), V. I. 323. In the Vessels of a Person labouring under the Varicocele.

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1846.  Brittan, trans. Malgaigne’s Man. Oper. Surg., 469. Most authors distinguish varicocele, a varicose dilatation of the veins of the scrotum, from circocele, a varicose state of the veins of the spermatic cord; but surgeons in the present day generally understand, by varicocele, the varicose affection of the cord itself, which is much more common than that of the scrotum.

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1874.  Van Buren, Dis. Genit. Org., 468. Varicocele is constituted by a varicose enlargement of the pampiniform plexus and veins of the cord.

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1883–4.  Med. Annual, 56/1. A very successful mode of treating varicocele.

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  attrib.  Arnold & Sons’ Catal. Surg. Instrum., 576. Varicocele Clamp,… Spring Tractor,… Needles,… Ring.

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