Surgically retrieved spermatozoa versus ejaculated spermatozoa in modified natural IVF-ICSI cycles

A retrospective cohort study was performed to evaluate the outcome of modified natural IVF-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (mnIVF-ICSI) cycles to compare 81 mnIVF-ICSI first cycles using ejaculated spermatozoa with 44 mnIVF-ICSI first cycles using surgically retrieved spermatozoa. There were no differences between the two groups in terms of number of oocytes retrieved, oocyte maturity or female age. However, male age was significantly higher in the surgically retrieved compared with the ejaculated group (41.5 versus 36.5 years, P = 0.001). There were no significant differences in fertilization rate or cleavage rate between the ejaculated and the surgically retrieved groups; however the prevalence of embryo transfer was higher in the surgically retrieved group (65.9% versus 45.7%, P = 0.03). Only single-embryo transfer was performed. Biochemical (34.5% versus 37.8%) and clinical (31.0% versus 35.1%) pregnancy rates per embryo transfer were similar between the ejaculated and the surgically retrieved groups. The data suggest that mnIVF-ICSI is an alternative treatment option in couples with severe male factor infertility where surgical sperm retrieval is required. RBM Online (c) 2012, Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.