ICSI outcome in severely oligoasthenozoospermic patients and its relationship to prewash progressive sperm motility*

Authors: NİLGÜN TURHAN, ASLIHAN PEKEL, AYLİN AYRIM, ÖMER BAYRAK

Abstract: To investigate the association between prewash progressive sperm motility and pregnancy rate in cases of severely oligoasthenozoospermic patients in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. Materials and methods: The study included 80 infertile couples who were treated by ICSI due to severe oligoasthenozoospermia (<106). Results were obtained by retrospective analysis of data that are regularly entered into SPSS in our In Vitro Fertilization Unit. Female patients older than 35 years were excluded. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to prewash progressive sperm motility. Group I had progressive sperm motility below 10% (n = 40), and group II had progressive sperm motility equal to or greater than 10% (n = 40). The main outcome measure was the clinical pregnancy rate. Results: The patient characteristics were similar in both groups. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in terms of total number of oocytes retrieved, number of mature oocytes, fertilization rate, or the number of transferred embryos. A total of 38 (47.5%) clinical pregnancies were obtained in 80 ICSI treatment cycles. The clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher in group II (62.5% [25/40] than in group I (32.5% [13/40]), with P = 0.014. Conclusion: Severe sperm motility impairment results in human infertility, which can be overcome by ICSI. The data from this study demonstrated that severe progressive motility defects in cases of severe oligoasthenozoospermia do not prevent fertilization or normal embryo production in ICSI cycles; however, the rate of ICSI success may be influenced by progressive sperm motility. Our results show that oligoasthenozoospermic patients with progressive sperm motility above 10% have better clinical pregnancy results.

Keywords: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, oligoasthenozoospermia, pregnancy

Full Text: PDF