STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES OF AUTOSOMAL CHROMOSOMES IN THE MALE PARTNERDO NOT INFLUENCE FERTILIZATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF EMBRYOS AFTERINTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION

The objective of this study was to determine whether or not abnormalit ies in the autosomal structure of the male partner have any influence on fertilization and early embryo development after intracytoplasmic s perm injection (ICSI). Thirty-seven couples in whom the male partners were examined by the same andrologist were included in this study. Six couples (group I) in whom the male partner possessed autosomal struct ural abnormality underwent seven ICSI cycles. As a control group, 31 c ouples (group II) in which the male partner was karyotypically normal underwent 41 ICSI cycles. Although the normal fertilization rates seen in group I were significantly higher than those in group II (P < 0.05 ), there was no significant difference in the cleavage rates between t he two groups. We did not perform the analysis of the female partner's chromosomes, but we surmise that structural autosomal abnormalities i n the male partner do not adversely influence fertilization at ICSI an d early development of embryos.