Contacts: Shatylko Taras Valerievich, moscowandrology@gmail.com

Aim: to analyze reproductive potential of surgically retrieved sperm in patients with azoospermia.

Materials and methods. We performed an analysis of database which included data on 754 azoospermic patients who underwent 813 surgical sperm retrieval attempts. Sperm retrieval rate (SRR), pregnancy rate (PR), overall live birth rate (among all biopsy attempts, OLBR) and specific live birth rate (only among successful sperm retrieval attempts, SLBR). Results. SRR in nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) was 31.1% (188 of 605 attempts), SRR in obstructive azoospermia (OA) was 100% (96 of 96 attempts). OLBR was 17.5% when calculated among all biopsy attempts; OLBR among all couples was 18.9%. In couples where the male had OA, OLBR was equal to 45.8%. In NOA this parameter was only 12.9%. However, SLBR in NOA and OA were virtually identical, being 48.1% and 48.9% correspondingly (p > 0.05); OLBR difference was determined by SRR, while the reproductive potential of obtained gametes was similar and didn’t depend on azoospermia type. In couples with successful surgical sperm retrieval female age and gynecological factors were the only significant negative predictors of live birth. No andrological factor, including type and etiology of azoospermia, influenced live birth rate after ICSI.

Conclusion. Reproductive potential of surgically retrieved sperm doesn’t depend on type of azoospermia and other andrological factors. Low LBR in NOA is a consequence of low SRR and doesn’t reflect low quality of sperm by itself. Key words: azoospermia, male infertility, reproductive outcomes, testicular biopsy.

For citation: N.G. Gasanov, S.I. Gamidov, T.V. Shatylko, A.Yu. Popova, O.B. Loran, N.P. Makarova, I.V. Ushakova. Reproductive potential of surgically retrieved sperm in cases of azoospermia. Experimental and clinical urology 2019;(3):126-132