TESTICULAR NEEDLE ASPIRATION AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO BIOPSY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF SPERMATOGENESIS

The technique of fine needle aspiration (FNA) may have a role as a rel iable, quick and easy method of obtaining testicular tissue, Recent ad vances in the management of male subfertility and, in particular, the finding that spermatozoa recovered from the epididymis and testis can result in embryo generation after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IC SI), question the traditional role of open testicular biopsy for the a ssessment of spermatogenesis, FNA of the testis was performed on 19 ca ses of male subfertility and histological and cytological preparations obtained were assessed by light microscopy, FNA provided intact testi cular tubules adequate for the histological assessment of spermatogene sis in all cases, There was good correlation with the cytological prep arations which gave an indication of the number of mature spermatozoa present, FNA should be considered as a simple alternative to open test icular biopsy in the current investigation of male subfertility and as a method of retrieving spermatozoa for assisted conception using ICSI .