Round-headed spermatozoa in semen specimens from fertile and subfertile men.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the frequency of round-headed, or acrosomeless, spermatozoa, determine the percentage and evaluate the possible correlation with other semen parameters.


METHODS
Semen specimens from 114 subfertile men aged 24-53 years (mean +/- SD 33.3 +/- 6.3) and from 60 fertile men aged 24-44 years (33.1 +/- 4.2) were studied. Two semen specimens were examined from each individual, with a six- to eight-week interval. Sperm morphology was evaluated from Papanicolaou-stained smears, and the classification of abnormal sperm forms was made according to WHO guidelines.


RESULTS
The percentage of round-headed spermatozoa was 2.3% +/- 0.5 in subfertile and 0.5% +/- 0.1 in fertile men. Round-headed spermatozoa existed in semen specimens from 36.8% of subfertile and 25.0% fertile men. Of subfertile men, 14.9% had round-headed spermatozoa at a higher percentage than the highest normal limit found in sperm smears from fertile men.


CONCLUSIONS
In some subfertile men with a high percentage of round-headed spermatozoa, infertility could be attributed to the cause of this morphologic abnormality. Moreover, morphologic abnormalities in the neck were significantly more frequent in round-headed spermatozoa than in spermatozoa with normal heads.
Kalahanis
John
J
Division of Endocrinology and Human Reproduction, 2nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Rousso
David
D
Kourtis
Anargyros
A
Mavromatidis
George
G
Makedos
George
G
Panidis
Dimitrios
D
D000177:Acrosome / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012661:Semen / Q000166:cytology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013076:Sperm Count; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000379:methods; D032961:Sperm Midpiece / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions / Q000502:physiology