The researchers looked at the sperm of 121 men with varicocele in varying degrees and compared them to 23 men without varicocele. They found that men with varicocele had lower sperm quality and more abnormalities in sperm shape than those without. Men with worse varicocele grades had more irregularly shaped sperm. The standard tests for sperm quality did not show these differences, but examining sperm shape did. This suggests that sperm shape analysis is important for men with varicocele.