title: The effects of female age on the outcome of testicular sperm extraction and intracytoplasmic sperm injection in infertile patients with azoospermia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Testicular sperm extraction (TESE) is well-defined procedure for surgical sperm retrieval in obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia. This study was focused on the effectiveness of testicular sperm extraction and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for azoospermic men with different female age subgroups.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 107 men with azoospermia underwent TESE and ICSI treatment. The women were examined in three groups 20-29, 30-34 and 35 years or older. The main outcome in this study was fertilization and pregnancy rates with TESE and ICSI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Spermatozoa were successfully retrieved during 97 of 107 (90.7%) TESE attempts, resulting in the fertilization of 286 of 563 (50.4%) injected metaphase II oocytes. Two hundred and fifty-five of them were transferred (89.8%). The clinical pregnancy rate and ongoing pregnancy rate per embryo transfer were 22.5% and 20.6% respectively. When comparing the fertilization and pregnancy rates, it was observed that women between the ages of 20-29 years had significantly higher pregnancy rates than women over 34 years of age (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The female age is a major factor in determining successful implantation in ICSI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Ege University Medical Faculty, Izmir, Turkey. baltay@mail.koc.net
authors.forename: Bariş
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Altay
authors.forename: Aykut
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kefi
authors.forename: Erol
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tavmergen
authors.forename: Necmettin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cikili
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Semerci
authors.forename: Ege
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tavmergen Goker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D011258:Pregnancy Tests; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome