Hippokratia 1999, 3(2):57-63
D. Panidis, A. Kourtis, I. Kalahanis, K. Stergiopoulos, P. Stamatopoulos, N. Prapas, G. Vlassis
Abstract
This prospective study was designed in order to estimate the value of the measurement of the total number of morphological anomalies in 100 spermatozoa in the discrimination of semen in subfertile men. We studied semen specimens from 556 men, aged 20-58 years, who were divided into two groups, in subfertile (n=355) and in fertile men (n=201). Semen was examined in all subjects twice, (6 to 8 weeks interval). It was found that: (1) the sensitivity and specificity of the total morphological abnormality number in 100 spermatozoa, in discriminating the subfertile semen were high, (2) the total morphological abnormality number in 100 spermatozoa had higher sensitivity and specificity values than those of the spermatozoa number per ml, the percentage of the motile spermatozoa and the percentage of the spermatozoa with normal morphology, (3) the main semen parameter that presented independent correlation with the total number of morphological anomalies in 100 spermatozoa was the percentage of spermatozoa with abnormal morphology. Our results show that the total number of morphological anomalies in 100 spermatozoa is a reliable index for discriminating subfertile from fertile semen. Moreover, spermatozoa with one morphological anomaly present quite often a second morphological anomaly as well.