Couples With Trouble Conceiving May Require Additional Sperm Analysis, New Report Shows

First Posted: Jan 27, 2016 05:49 PM EST
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Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have found that additional sperm analysis in couples who are trying to conceive may help increase the chances of a successful pregnancy, according to a recent study.

The analysis allows researchers to make a better decision between standard in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which involves the selection of a single healthy sperm that's later injected into an egg.

"We hope that these results will mean that involuntarily childless couples are offered the most effective treatment right away," said Aleksander Giwercman, a professor at Lund University, in a news release. "Undergoing unsuccessful assisted reproduction can be very stressful -- both physically and mentally -- especially if done repeatedly."

Researchers analyzed the medical records for almost 2,000 IVF or ICSI cycles performed at Reproductive Medicine Center at Skane University Hospital between 2007 and 2013 for couples in which the men had undergone DFI testing. 

The fertilization cycles were broken into four groups based on DFI analysis: DFI less than 10 percent; DFI between 10 and 20 percent; DFI between 20 and 30 percent; and DFI higher than 30 percent. The data showed the higher DFI increased, the less successful standard IVF was. For DFIs above 20 percent, the odds of a live birth were statistically significantly higher using the ICSI method.

The findings are published in the journal Andrology.

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