A case of rapid deterioration in sperm quality following spinal cord injury.
METHODS
Case report.


METHODS
Northwest Regional Spinal Injuries Unit, Southport, UK and Reproductive Medicine Unit, Liverpool Women's Hospital, Liverpool, UK.


METHODS
A 28-year-old man suffered from paraplegia on sustaining a fall. Fertility preservation was an important aspect of his treatment and electro-ejaculation and cryopreservation of sperm was possible within days of sustaining the fall. The sperm samples obtained subsequently showed a rapid decline in quality. Frozen sperm from the first normal ejaculate obtained soon after the injury was used for assisted reproduction and has resulted in an ongoing pregnancy.


CONCLUSIONS
This case highlights the importance of collection and freezing of seminal fluid within 2 weeks of spinal cord injury (SCI), or earlier to improve fertility outcomes in spinal cord-injured men, as the clinical stability of the patient may allow.
Das
S
S
Hewitt Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Liverpool Women's Hospital, Liverpool, UK.
Soni
B M
BM
Sharma
S D
SD
Gazvani
R
R
Lewis-Jones
D I
DI
D000328:Adult; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D012661:Semen / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D012662:Semen Preservation / Q000379:methods; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors