CRYOPRESERVATION AND SEMEN QUALITY IN PATIENTS WITH HODGKINS-DISEASE

Background. Cryopreservation of semen from patients with Hodgkin's dis ease yields fewer motile sperm than from fertile men without Hodgkin's disease. However, although poor sperm quality and subfertility have b een associated with Hodgkin's disease, whether the disease adversely a ffects sperm quality is not clear because many studies evaluated semen quality after chemotherapy or radiation therapy had begun. Furthermor e, the effect of cryopreservation on semen quality in these patients i s unknown. This study investigated pretreatment sperm quality and the effect of cryopreservation on semen quality in patients with Hodgkin's disease. Methods. Specimens from 39 patients with Hodgkin's disease a nd 30 normal volunteers who underwent sperm banking over a 5-year peri od were analyzed. No patient had undergone chemotherapy or radiation t herapy before sperm banking. The nitrogen vapor technique, using Test- Yolk buffer with glycerol as a cryoprotective agent, was used for cryo preservation. Prefreeze and postthaw motile sperm count (MSG) and moti on characteristics, namely motility, curvilinear velocity (VCL), linea rity, amplitude of lateral head movement (ALH), and motility index, we re compared between the two groups. Results. Prefreeze values for MSC (P = 0.0001), motility (P = 0.0001), motility index (P = 0.0001), and VCL (P = 0.0019) differed significantly between patients and donors. E xcept for linearity and ALH, postthaw sperm MSG, motility, VCL, and mo tility index decreased significantly (P = 0.0001) in both groups. Howe ver, the percentage decline in semen quality from prefreeze to posttha w values did not differ significantly between donors and patients. Con clusion. The pretreatment semen quality in patients with Hodgkin's dis ease is poor compared with that of normal fertile men. However, half t he patients had a normal MSG, so a clinical diagnosis of Hodgkin's dis ease does not predict cryopreservation outcome adequately. Semen cryop reservation should be encouraged as a routine part of the therapeutic management of men of reproductive age who will undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy for Hodgkin's disease.