MORPHOLOGY IN INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS

Purpose: Direct intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a successfu l treatment of severe male subfertility. Conventional in vitro fertili zation shows poor pregnancy rates especially in cases of severe terato zoospermia, The objective was to determine if severe morphological def ects of spermatozoa in oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) have any imp act on the fertilization process in ICSI and if there are any specific morphological characteristics in nonfertilized oocytes after the ICSI procedure, Methods: Ejaculates and nonfertilized oocytes were investi gated by electron microscopy. Conclusions: The lack of intracytoplasmi c sperm-oocyte interaction, not severe sperm defects, displays the mos t critical role in the fertilization process. Clinical data with ferti lization rates of 66% and pregnancy rates of 23.3% confirm the fertili zation capacity of severely defective spermatozoa in ICSI.