THE HEMIZONA ASSAY IS OF GOOD PROGNOSTIC VALUE FOR THE ABILITY OF SPERM TO FERTILIZE OOCYTES IN-VITRO

Objectives: To assess the prognostic value of hemizona assay (HZA) in predicting the success of IVF. Design: Samples from 133 patients, who were referred for semen evaluation, were tested by HZA. Thirty samples were tested twice to assess interassay variation. Seventy couples wer e also referred for IVF. Results of HZA were compared with standard pa rameters of sperm quality, fertilization rates, and pregnancies. Resul ts: The intra-assay and interassay coefficient of variation were 8% an d 14%, respectively. Hemizona assay results had the highest correlatio n with sperm morphology (r = 0.60). Of all parameters evaluated, ferti lization rates were best predicted by hemizona index (HZI) (r = 0.75). The assay was found to have high sensitivity and specificity rates, a t a threshold HZI of 23%. Conclusions: The HZA is a valuable prognosti c test for IVF. With a threshold HZI of 23%, it has a good predictive value for fertilization rates in IVF, and may thus be used for patient preselection before IVF.