Vitrification of a small number of spermatozoa in normozoospermic and severely oligozoospermic samples

Figures & data

Figure 1. Recovery of sperm numbers and motility after vitrification. Preselected motile spermatozoa from normozoospermic and oligozoospermic semen samples were loaded into open-pulled straws using either spontaneous capillary action (CA) or with the aid of a polar body biopsy (PBB) pipette prior to vitrification. The graphs show recovery post warming of sperm numbers and motility stratified by loading technique and specimen type.

Table 1. Comparison of two loading techniques and spermatozoa quality.

	Normozoospermic (n = 15)			Oligozoospermic (n = 10)
Variable	Capillary action	PBB pipette	p Value	Capillary action	PBB pipette	p Value
Patient age*	36.2 ( ± 4.9)	40.7 (±5.7)	0.12	38.8 (±6.5)	40.2 (±3.6)	0.69
Initial sperm concentration*	52 (±23.5)	62 (±31.9)	0.43	1.8 (±1.3)	6.2 (±3.5)	0.76
Initial sperm motility (%)	62 (±5.2)	61 (±9.4)	0.98	24 (±10.7)	35 (±26.4)	0.19
Post wash concentration*	35 (±11.5)	45 (±25.1)	0.28	0.6 (±0.6)	2.2 (±2.5)	0.88
Post wash motility (%)	89 (±8.1)	94 (±3.6)	0.68	51 (±24.1)	69 (±29.1)	0.09
Number vitrified	103	89	–	49	54	–
Post warming recovery**	76 (73.8%)	77 (86.5%)	0.01	35 (71.4%)	48 (88.9%)	0.04
Post warming motility**	31 (40.7%)	34 (44.2%)	0.68	12 (34.3%)	21 (43.7%)	0.44
Post warming viability**	60 78.9%)	66 (85.7%)	0.10	27 (76.9%)	36 (75%)	0.69

PBB: polar body biopsy. Numbers are mean ± SD, unless stated otherwise. *10⁶ spermatozoa per milliliter; **Binary data n (%).