Ideal culture time for improvement in sperm motility from testicular sperm aspirates of men with azoospermia

PURPOSE: The motility of testicular derived spermatozoa reflects viability and predicts success during intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Although improvements in sperm motility are seen after incubation for extended periods, no guidelines suggest duration or media use for optimal improvement in motility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between July 1999 and February 2005 testicular aspirations were performed on 95 men with azoospermia, including 51 with obstructive azoospermia and 44 with nonobstructive azoospermia. Sperm motility was determined at initial collection and following incubation for 24 or 48 hours in processing media or Ham's F10 + protein. A mixed regression model controlling for testis side, media and baseline motility was created to analyze the change in motility between 24 and 48 hours. RESULTS: Mean motility improved from 3% to 20% at 24 hours and 25% at 48 hours for OA cases and from 0% to 5% at 24 hours and 11% at 48 hours for nonobstructive azoospermia cases. The improvement in motility from 24 to 48 hours was significant for obstructive azoospermia cases (p = 0.001). While media was a nonsignificant factor in regression models, when patients were grouped into categories of motility change there was a significantly better response to F10 compared to processing media (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Incubation in processing media or Ham's F10 + albumin media improves sperm motility with significant improvement noted between 24 and 48 hours for obstructive azoospermia cases. Ham's F10 + albumin media may provide extra benefit for cases of nonobstructive azoospermia or nerve injury. These results suggest the ideal timing of oocyte retrieval for intracytoplasmic sperm injection correlates with 48-hour sperm incubation for obstructive azoospermia cases, and 24 hours for nonobstructive azoospermia and nerve injury cases.     

Edward Martin (1859–1938). The founding father of modern clinical andrology

Edward Martin (1858-1938) was the first surgeon to treat successfully the problem of obstructive azoospermia, a feat that he first described in 1902. He subsequently carried out a total of 11 such operations that resulted in seven patencies and three pregnancies. He also demonstrated that the epididymis was the major site of these obstructive lesions. He pointed out the need for semen analysis in diagnosis and also demonstrated that azoospermia could have two causes, namely spermatogenic failure and ductal obstruction. He also made some important observations on sperm movement. He was probably the first clinician to demonstrate surgically ejaculatory duct obstruction, vasal atrophy and congenital absence of the vas. Most important of all, he demonstrated the need for accurate diagnosis in the treatment of male infertility. An argument is put forward that Edward Martin deserves the title of the 'Founding Father of Modern Clinical Andrology'.     

睾丸精子细针抽吸结合ICSI治疗非阻塞性无精子症

目的探讨应用睾丸细针穿刺(TEFNA)在非阻塞性无精子症患者获取成熟精子,结合ICSI治疗男性不育。方法用23号蝶型针与20ml注射器相连,注射器固定于保持其负压的手柄上,平均每个睾丸穿刺15针。结果57%(69/121)的患者,56.3%(99/176)个周期获得成熟精子,经睾丸组织学检查不同类型患者的精子获取率分别为:唯支持细胞46.7%(21/45),精子成熟障碍45.7%(16/35),精子发生低下96.1%(25/26),非嵌合型Klinefelter综合征63.6%(7/11),3例放疗后睾丸纤维化及1例单侧睾丸癌切除化疗后未获得精子。在仅注射了丈夫精子的87个周期中,591个卵细胞行精子注射,其中36.9%(218/591)受精,得到202个胚胎,其62个周期移值了178个胚胎(每个周期平均为2.831.7个胚胎),得到26例临床妊娠(共有44个妊娠囊),妊娠率为41.9%,种植率为24.7%,结论TEFNA结合ICIS是一种简易、安全、有效、易被患者接受的治疗非阻塞性无精子症的方法。     

Clinical outcome of microsurgery for obstructive azoospermia

BACKGROUND: Recent technical advances in microscopy have greatly improved the reconstruction of the seminal tract in cases of obstructive azoospermia. METHODS: We evaluated the clinical outcome of 28 patients with obstructive azoospermia who underwent microsurgical reconstruction (i.e. vasovasostomy or unilateral epididymovasostomy). Diagnoses included postvasectomy (n = 9), childhood inguinal herniorrhaphy (n = 10) and cases of unknown cause (n = 9). Six of the unknown cases proved to be inoperable. We analyzed the outcome of the surgical reconstructions of operable cases according to the causes of obstruction, duration of obstruction, quality of the fluid obtained from the distal seminal tract (concentration, morphology and motility of sperm) and the histologic findings of the testis. RESULTS: The surgical outcome was analyzed with regard to the incidence of patency and pregnancy. The incidence of patency achieved in nine vasectomy cases was 89%, while the incidence of pregnancy was 44%. In contrast, the incidence of patency in the nine operable cases with herniorrhaphy was 44%, while the pregnancy rate was 0%. Of four cases of unknown cause who underwent epididymovasostomy, the incidence of patency was 100% and the incidence of pregnancy was 75%. The outcomes were worse in post-vasectomy cases with long-term obstruction of more than 10 years; however, this was not statistically significant. The outcome was significantly worse in cases with low sperm concentrations. There was no significant relationship between histologic findings and surgical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The surgical outcome of vasovasostomy of postherniorrhaphy cases was significantly worse than that of post-vasectomy cases. With regard to epididymovasostomy, a unilateral repair was clinically evaluated.     

Testicular fine needle aspiration for sperm retrieval in non-obstructive azoospermia

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of obtaining mature spermatozoa for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) by testicular fine needle aspiration (TEFNA) in men diagnosed non-obstructive azoospermia. Methods: TEFNA was performed in 121 patients with a mean of 15 punctures and aspirations from each testis with a #23 butterfly needle connected to a 20 mL syringe with an aspiration handle. Results: One hundred and twenty-one patients underwent 176 TEFNA cycles. Testicular sperm were recovered in 56.3 % (99/176) cycles from 57 % (69/121) of patients. The sperm recovery rate was 46.7 % (21/45) in patients with Sertoli cell-only syndrome, 45.7 % (16/35) in patients with maturation arrest, 96.1 % (25/26) in patients with hypospermatogenesis and 63.6 % (7/11) in patients of non-mosaic Klinefelter's syndrome as judged by testicular histology. No sperm were found in 3 cases with post-irradiation fibrosis and one, after resection and chemotherapy of unilateral testicular cancer. In 87 cycles of ICSI using     

射精管梗阻性无精子症的诊断与治疗(附46例报告)

目的探讨射精管梗阻性无精子症的诊断及经尿道射精管电切术(TURED)的可行性和疗效。方法回顾分析2003年6月～2005年9月间收治的46例射精管梗阻性无精子症患者的临床资料。采用精液常规分析、精浆果糖测定和经直肠超声检查(TRUS)对其进行诊断,患者均使用TURED治疗,术后随访至少3个月以上。结果46例患者精液量0．4～1．9ml,pH值5．6-7．0,精浆果糖降低,一次射精(0～10．8)μmol。TRUS检查：单纯双侧精囊扩张8例,单侧精囊扩张3例,精囊扩张并射精管扩张18例,精囊扩张合并前列腺囊肿者12例,单纯射精管部分扩张或前列腺囊肿者5例。所有患者均完成手术。术后随访3～28个月,40例(86．96%)精液检查有不同程度的改善,22例(47．82%)精液中出现精子,9例(19．56%)精液检查正常；4例(8．7%)妻子妊娠。结论精液分析、精浆果糖测定和TRUS是射精管梗阻的主要诊断方式。TURED是治疗射精管梗阻性无精子症的首选方法。     

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection using surgically retrieved epididymal and testicular spermatozoa in cases of obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia

This was a retrospective study of 115 patients who underwent 124 cycles of ICSI using surgically retrieved spermatozoa. The objective was to compare the results of ICSI in patients with obstructive azoospermia using epididymal spermatozoa (36 cycles) or testicular spermatozoa (58 cycles) with ICSI in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia using testicular spermatozoa (30 cycles). When epididymal spermatozoa were used for ICSI, the fertilization rate per injected metaphase-II oocyte and the clinical pregnancy rate per ICSI cycle were 60.4 and 25%, respectively. When testicular spermatozoa were used in obstructive cases, the fertilization rate and pregnancy rate were 57.9 and 34.5%. In non-obstructive cases the fertilization and pregnancy rates were 41.2 and 16.6%. When patients with obstructive azoospermia were regrouped according to the cause of obstruction, the fertilization and pregnancy rates were 59.1 and 35.1% in acquired obstruction and 58.7 and 24.3% in congenital obstruction. The fertilization and pregnancy rates were not statistically different ( p  > 0.05) when testicular or epididymal spermatozoa were used in obstructive cases; neither was statistically different ( p  > 0.05) when compared in patients with congenital and acquired obstruction. On the other hand, the fertilization and pregnancy rates in cases with non-obstructive azoospermia were significantly lower ( p  < 0.05) than in obstructive cases.     

Sex Chromosomal Analysis of Fifty Cases with Azoospermia

ＳｅｘＣｈｒｏｍｏｓｏｍａｌＡｎａｌｙｓｉｓｏｆＦｉｆｔｙＣａｓｅｓｗｉｔｈＡｚｏｏｓｐｅｒｍｉａ￥ＸｕＣｈａｎｇｆｅｎ，ｅｔａｌ．ＡＣＴＡＡＣＡＤＥＭＩＡＥＭＥＤＩＣＩＮＡＥＮＡＮＪＩＮＧ，１９９４，１４（１）：２２－２５Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ：Ｍａｌｅ...     

16 835例中国不育男性的精液质量分析

目的：通过精液常规检查评价大样本量的不育男性的生育能力,为男性不育症的临床治疗和疗效观察提供
科学依据。方法：收集16 835例不育男性的精液标本,以1 567例精子库候选供精者精液标本作为普通人群对照组,采
用计算机辅助精液分析技术(computer assisted sperm analysis,CASA )进行精液常规检测并对结果进行统计学分析。结
果：不育患者精液异常主要表现为弱精症。不育组无精症、弱精症、少弱精症患者比例高于对照组,不育组少精症
患者比例低于对照组(P<0.001)。结论：弱精症、无精症、少弱精症与不育相关,而单纯少精症不一定与不育相关。     

严重生精功能障碍患者助孕前遗传学检查的意义

检测严重生精功能障碍患者外周血染色体，为拟行ICSI技术助孕的患者提供遗传咨询。方法按常规方法进行外周血淋巴细胞培养、染色体制备、核型分析。结果61例无精子症患者中有22例染色体核型异常，异常率36.1%：36例严重少精子症患者中有1例染色体异常，异常率2.78%，根据染色体结果及生精功能障碍程度选择不同的诊治方案。结诊（1）染色体异常是导致男性生精功能障碍的重要原因之一。（2）ICSI助孕前，夫妇双方须行遗行学检查以避免遗传缺陷后代的出生。