Epididymal sperm in assisted reproductive technology.
Infertile men with obstructive azoospermia mainly due to congenital absence of the vas deferens (CAVD) now have the option of trying to father their own progeny. In fact, in the last five years epididymal sperm retrieval microsurgically have been successfully used for in vitro fertilisation of human oocytes. In this report the clinical results of 98 consecutive procedures of microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) combined with in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and tubal embryo transfer (TET) are described. An overall fertilisation rate of 17% and a pregnancy rate of 36% per transfer is reported. Five of the 18 pregnancies resulted in abortion (27%) and 13 were delivered at term. Additionally, extra embryos for freezing and potential use for future attempts were made available for 13 couples. Men with CAVD have also allowed the study of spermatogenesis, immunological response and sperm disposal mechanisms in condition of chronic obstruction.
Patrizio
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Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of California-Irvine, Orange 92668.
Asch
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RH
D000328:Adult; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004822:Epididymis; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery; D011247:Pregnancy; D013094:Spermatozoa; D013396:Suction; D014649:Vas Deferens / Q000002:abnormalities