The Medical journal of Australia
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Infants with anomalies diagnosed at, or shortly after, birth were individually matched to control infants born without an anomaly, in the same hospital, to a mother of similar age, and at about the same date. The fathers in 8517 such case-control pairs were identified, and compared with a list of men who served in the Australian Army between 1962 and 1972 - the period of Australian involvement in Vietnam. ⋯ The risk of a Vietnam veteran fathering a child with an anomaly, compared with that of a non-veteran, was estimated at 1.02, with 95% confidence limits of 0.78 to 1.32. There was no evidence that Army service in Vietnam increases the risk of fathering children with anomalies diagnosed at birth.
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Over a 10-year period, routine vasectomies were reversed, and a very high rate of return of patency and potency was obtained in a series of 475 patients. The patients who presented for the reversal of vasectomy were, on average, about 33 years of age and had undergone vasectomy five years previously. An original, meticulous, microsurgical technique enabled the return of sperms to the ejaculate in over 90% of patients; the subsequent pregnancy rate in their spouses was over 82% in the first two years after the operation. The reversal of routine vasectomies which have been performed in the mid-scrotal area, at least 3 cm away from the epididymis, has the best chance of success; damage to the epididymis may preclude the reconstructive procedure.