THE OUTCOME OF CLINICAL PREGNANCIES FOLLOWING INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION IS NOT AFFECTED BY SEMEN QUALITY

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of severe ol igoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) on pregnancy outcome. For this purpos e 279 consecutive intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles were retrospectively evaluated and compared to 436 consecutive IVF cycles p erformed during the same time frame. Group A (n = 62) included ICSI pa tients with severe OAT; group B (n = 217) included patients who underw ent ICSI for other indications; and group C (n = 436) included couples who underwent standard IVF. The mean age of female patients and mean number of embryos transferred were comparable in all groups. No differ ence was observed regarding implantation, clinical pregnancy, delivery and miscarriage rates between all three groups, but fertilization rat e was significantly lower in group A than in groups B and C. It is con cluded that couples undergoing ICSI with severe male infertility (OAT) have a slightly reduced fertilization rate but their chances of deliv ery and pregnancy loss are similar to those of other patients undergoi ng clinical ICSI and IVF with non-male infertility.