The Origin of Spermatozoa Does Not Affect Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcome

Objective: To assess whether the origin of spermatozoa, ejaculate or testicular, affects intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome.

Study Design: Retrospective study of 890 consecutive first ICSI and embryo transfer cycles done for male infertility. The ICSI outcome of ejaculated spermatozoa (n=780) and testicular spermatozoa retrieved from patients with obstructive azoospermia (n=43), non-obstructive azoospermia (n=53) and severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (n=14) were compared by using chi-square test, independent t-test and ANOVA with Bonferroni test.

Results: All azoospermic males had a diagnostic testicular biopsy at least 6 months before the ICSI procedure. Spermatozoa were successfully retrieved in all 43 patients with obstructive azoospermia and in 72.6% of 73 non-obstructive cases. The cycle characteristics of the four groups were similar apart from a younger mean female age in the non-obstructive azoospermia group when compared with the ejaculated spermatozoa group. The fertilization, implantation and clinical pregnancy rates were comparable among the four groups.

Conclusion: Testicular spermatozoa recovered from patients with obstructive and all types of non-obstructive azoospermia were as much as effective as ejaculated spermatozoa in ICSI.