Effects of testicular histopathology on sperm retrieval rates and ICSI results in non-obstructive azoospermia

Abstract

Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is characterised by absence of sperm in the ejaculate. Significant relationship between the pattern of the testis histopathology of NOA and successful sperm retrieval rate is well known. In this study, we assess efficacy of testicular histopathology on sperm retrieval rates and intracytoplasmic sperm injection results after microdissection testicular sperm extraction in cases of non-obstructive azoospermia. It is a retrospective analysis of 111 NOA patients who have histopathological confirmation. According to histopathological findings, the patients were divided into three groups: Sertoli-cell-only syndrome (SCOS), maturation arrest (MA) and hypospermatogenesis. Sperm retrieval rate was significantly higher in hypospermatogenesis group compared with that in SCOS and MA groups. In terms of fertilisation and clinical pregnancy rates, there was no significant difference between the groups. As a result, compared with MA and SCOS, hypospermatogenesis has higher sperm retrieval rates. Our study revealed that once successful sperm retrieval is achieved, fertilisation and clinical pregnancy rates are similar in NOA patients.

Keywords::

• Azoospermia
• histopathology
• intracytoplasmic sperm injections
• pregnancy rates

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.