Intracytoplasmic sperm injection with cryopreserved testicular spermatozoa.
To assess if testicular sperm cryopreservation is a valid alternative to repetition of testicular sperm retrieval techniques, results of a cryopreservation technique in pills have been retrospectively analyzed. Enough motile spermatozoa for ICSI were obtained in 172 from 190 (90.5%) frozen-thawed testicular sperm samples. Overall, 249 couples underwent 390 ICSI cycles, 156 using fresh and 234 using cryopreserved testicular sperm. Mean two-pronuclear fertilization rates per cycle were not significantly different after ICSI with fresh (62.0%) or with cryopreserved (63.2%) spermatozoa. Mean embryo cleavage rate per cycle was higher in the fresh (90.6%) than in the cryopreserved (84.6%) group (P = 0.016). However, clinical pregnancy rates per cycle (28.2% with fresh vs 27.8% with cryopreserved), implantation rates (12.2% vs 13.1%) and ongoing pregnancy rates per cycle (22.4% vs 21.8%) were not significantly different. Cryopreservation of testicular spermatozoa is an effective technique that can be used both in obstructive and in non-obstructive azoospermia.
Gil-Salom
M
M
Intstituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, Guardia Civil, Valencia, Spain. centroivi@ivi.es
Romero
J
J
Rubio
C
C
Ruiz
A
A
Remohí
J
J
Pellicer
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002970:Cleavage Stage, Ovum; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012662:Semen Preservation / Q000592:standards*; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology