Comparison of normal sperm morphology outcomes from two different computer-assisted semen analysis systems

By eliminating the human evaluation variable, it was possible to carry out an investigation into the 'true' association between normal sperm morpholog y outcomes assessed according to the World Health Organization guidelines a nd strict criteria. Two computer-assisted semen analysis systems were used, IVOS and Mika, to evaluate Diff-Quik and Papanicolaou stained slides. As e xpected, the mean normal sperm morphology outcomes for tile World Health Or ganization classification evaluations were markedly higher for both the Dif f-Quik (mean difference = 40.13%) and the Papanicolaou (mean difference = 3 2.55%) stained slides. The association between the outcomes were low for th e Diff-Quik stained slides (r = 0.379) and poor for the Papanicolaou staine d slides (r = 0.110). While the association achieved with the computer-assi sted semen analysis systems using Diff-auik stained slides was comparable t o the association between the manual evaluations (r = 0.386), the manual ev aluation of Papanicolaou stained slides produced a relatively good associat ion (r = 0.690). Although the numbers were small, the results show the prob ability of poor class correlations. Approximately 40% of outcomes were inco rrectly classed at a 14% (strict criteria) and 50% (World Health Organizati on guidelines) cut-off point for both staining methods. This study. confirm s the fundamental differences between the two classification systems. The r esults also indicate that, of the two stains used, Diff-auik should be the preferred staining method for computer-assisted sperm morphology evaluation s.