Objective: To investigate whether prior testis magnetic resonance spectroscopy predicts the success or failure of micro-dissection testicular sperm extraction (micro-TESE) in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Material and Methods: Nine men with NOA who were scheduled for micro-TESE for the first time, 9 NOA men with a history of previous micro-TESE and 5 fertile men were enrolled. All NOA patients and fertile controls underwent testis spectroscopy. A multi-voxel spectroscopy sequence was used. Testicular signals of choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), myo-inositol (MI), lactate, and lipids were analyzed quantitatively and compared with the results of the micro-TESEs. Results: The most prominent peaks were Cho and Cr in the fertile controls and NOA subjects with positive sperm retrieval in the micro-TESE. A high Cho peak was detected in 87% of the NOA men with positive sperm retrieval. NOA men without sperm at the previous micro-TESE showed a marked decrease in Cho and Cr signals. For positive sperm retrieval in micro-TESE, the cutoff value of Cho was 1.46 ppm, the cutoff value of Cr was 1.43 ppm, and the cutoff value of MI was 0.79 ppm. Conclusion: Testis spectroscopy can be used as a non-invasive screening method to predict the success or failure of micro-TESE.
RDW and MPV were significantly higher in the patients with AS than in the controls. While RDW was correlated with BASDAI and APRs, MPV was only correlated with APRs.
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