Through considerable improvements in the reproductive medicine, it is now possible to help couples that before had little chance when the sperm results were negative.
The Intra cytoplasm sperm injection (ICSI-method) is another milestone in the treatment of infertility. A single sperm is placed directly into the body (cytoplasm) of the egg for fertilization (In comparison, an average of 200 million sperms are set free in normal intercourse). Over 60% of all egg cells are fertilized with ICSI, even when the patients have a very low sperm concentration (ie: less than 10,000 in the whole ejaculate).
Animation:
Diagram of ICSI.
This method can also help those patients who have no motile sperm in the ejaculate.
If due to obstruction, there are no sperm in the ejaculate, they can be retrieved surgically ,directly from the epididymis and used for ICSI. (Microsurgical Epididymal Sperm Aspiration (MESA) )If no sperm can be found in the epididymis, it can be taken directly from the testis. (Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE) )
The pregnancy rates with ICSI are approximately as high as those achieved with the classical in vitro fertilization method.
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