Tissue perfusion essential for spermatogenesis and outcome of testicular sperm extraction (TESE) for assisted reproduction.
OBJECTIVE
In order to determine if there are areas of major and minor perfusion in a single testicle and if the quality of sperm is correlated with quantity of perfusion we collected testicle tissue for TESE in accordance to the local testicle tissue perfusion.


METHODS
A patient undergoing TESE underwent testicular perfusion mapping using contrast enhanced ultrasound. The exposed tissue was scanned with a Laser Doppler scanner and perfusion rates were determined measuring tissue perfusion units (TPUs). Tissue was biopsied and sperm were selected and prepared for assisted reproduction.


RESULTS
The total amount of isolated sperm correlated highly with the intensity of tissue perfusion showing high number of sperm in areas with high TPUs.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first demonstration that sperm quality and quantity is depending on tissue perfusion within the testicle. To further improve infertility treatment we propose that random biopsies could be replaced by perfusion-dependent collection of testicular tissue.
Department of Urology, University Hospital of Innsbruck, Austria. ralf.herwig@uibk.ac.at
R
R
Herwig
K
K
Tosun
G M
GM
Pinggera
E
E
Soelder
K T
KT
Moeller
L
L
Pallwein
E
E
Frauscher
G
G
Bartsch
L
L
Wildt
K
K
Illmensee
D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D010062:Ovulation Induction; D010477:Perfusion; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000379:methods; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D013733:Testicular Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D013737:Testis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014463:Ultrasonography; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler