A. Lahteenmaki et al., TREATMENT OF SEVERE MALE IMMUNOLOGICAL INFERTILITY BY INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION, Human reproduction, 10(11), 1995, pp. 2824-2828
A total of 29 infertile couples (group A) with male antisperm antibodi
es detected by the mixed antiglobulin reaction (MAR) and partly by flo
w cytometry (n = 21) were treated using an intracytoplasmic sperm inje
ction (ICSI) technique to assist fertilization, In all, 22 of them had
shown a poor fertilization rate (6%) in previous in-vitro fertilizati
on (IVF) treatments, The fertilization and cleavage Fates in ICSI, 79
and 89% respectively, were similar to those in a MAR-negative group (g
roup B; n = 20) injected because of male infertility (68 and 93% respe
ctively), A third group (group C; n = 37) with male immune infertility
was treated by conventional IVF, All these couples had at least one o
ocyte fertilized, but the overall fertilization rate (44%) in group C
was significantly poorer (P < 0.001) than that in the two ICSI groups,
However, the embryo quality was lower in group A compared with that i
n the other groups, A total of 13 pregnancies resulted in group A (46%
), of which five ended in miscarriage. None of the six pregnancies (30
%) in group B aborted during the first trimester, These results reveal
, for the first time, that ICSI offers a good chance of fertilization
for couples with male immunological infertility, However, post-fertili
zation events may compromise these results because of factors not yet
clearly understood.