title: [Sperm collection for medically assisted procreation in azoospermic patients].
abstract: Infertility is defined as the inability of a sexually active non-contracepting couple to achieve spontaneous pregnancy in one year.  Factors of male infertility are present in 50% of infertile couples.  Azoospermia is defined as the absence of sperm in the ejaculate, even after centrifugation of the sample, and affects 10%-15% of the infertile male population. Therefore, it represents a pathological condition of primary importance in the context of infertility management.  Any assisted reproductive procedure must first refer to the availability of a suitable number of good quality gametes.  As regards sperm collection, if ejaculated semen is not suitable or available, it may be taken from the seminal duct or directly from the testicular parenchyma with different methodologies and techniques, which can be divided into percutaneous techniques and open surgical (TeSE and ESA) or micro-surgical (micro-TeSE) techniques.  The purpose of this work is to evaluate and compare the retrieval rate in infertile patients suffering from azoospermia and treated with the various surgical techniques.
authors.affiliation: Università degli studi di Torino, A.O. Città della Salute e delle Scienza - Molinette, Torino - Italy.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Timpano
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rolle
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Preto
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falcone
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sibona
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frea
mesh_terms: D053713:Azoospermia / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D001706:Biopsy; D004822:Epididymis; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods; D019152:Paracentesis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D053625:Sperm Retrieval; D013737:Testis / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone