[Evaluation of the interest of semen culture before cryoconservation].
OBJECTIVE
French guidelines recommend screening all patients for virus infection prior to cryopreservation of their semen. In case of viral risk, the use of specific high secure CBS straws is recommended. The objective of this work was to evaluate the microbiological risk by testing all semen samples before cryopreservation.


METHODS
Fifty one patients underwent a semen culture before cryopreservation.


RESULTS
The fifty one patients were classed into 3 groups following semen culture results: group I: negative culture (39/51, 76.47%), group II: positive culture with microbiological contamination (7/51, 13.73%) and group III: positive culture with pathogen (5/51, 9.8%). For 3 patients of the latter group, we tested a three-layer density gradient to eliminate bacteria before Assisted Reproductive Techniques.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper discusses the risks related to microbiological contamination and the options available in this case.
Levy
R
R
Laboratoire de biologie de la reproduction, hôpital Nord, 42055 Saint-Etienne, France. rachel.levy@chu-st-etienne.fr
Gattard
F
F
Maubon
I
I
Ros
A
A
Gay
A
A
Laurent
J L
JL
Pozzetto
B
B
D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D015925:Cryopreservation; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D012661:Semen / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology; D012662:Semen Preservation; D013094:Spermatozoa; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis