[The evaluation of severe male infertility in the era of advanced in-vitro fertilization].
Male infertility has been a subject for dynamic definition during the last decade since the introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as an acceptable and routine technique in the IVF-ART procedure. Male sterility may be defined in cases in which no spermatozoa are located in a testicular biopsy using several specimens. The extreme case (absence of all gametes precursors) is termed Sertoli cell only. This evaluation may be reinforced by detailed genetic assessments of micro-deletion in Y chromosome. Accordingly, once spermatozoa are isolated (even very few) they can fertilize an oocyte using ICSI, thereby the couple can achieve pregnancy. This shift in the definition of 'Sterility' brings about a shift in the consideration of male 'subfertility' or 'infertility'. This review explores the current 'state of the art' of male fertility evaluation with a focus on the role of an advanced andrology laboratory.
D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic