Objective: To evaluate the influence of a heated versus an unheated car seat on scrotal temperature under standardized experimental conditions.
Design: Controlled clinical study.
Setting: Healthy volunteers in an academic research environment.
Patient(s): Thirty volunteers without a history of infertility and with a normal andrological examination.
Intervention(s): Scrotal temperatures were measured every minute with a portable data recorder connected to two thermistor temperature sensors, which were attached on either side of the scrotum. All volunteers started the experiment at the same time of day wearing standardized cotton wool trousers and shirts fitting to body size. Each volunteer performed two periods of 90 minutes in a randomized manner on either the heated or unheated car seat.
Result(s): At the end of the sitting periods scrotal temperatures were significantly higher using the heated car seat versus the unheated seat (left scrotal side: 0.5 degrees C; right scrotal side: 0.6 degrees C). Maximum values recorded during sitting alone were exceeded on the heated seat already after one-third of the exposure time.
Conclusion(s): The present study suggests that the frequent use of a heated car seat represents an additional scrotal, and consequently, testicular heat stress factor to that which is present by merely sitting for long periods.