Laser-assisted selection of immotile spermatozoa has no effect on obstetric and neonatal outcomes of TESA-ICSI pregnancies

Abstract

Background Azoospermic patients have benefited from both epididymal and testicular spermatozoa intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment and lasers have been used to identify viable but immotile spermatozoa before the procedure. However, there are limited studies on the safety of laser-assisted selection of immotile spermatozoa. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of laser-assisted selection of immotile spermatozoa on the obstetric and neonatal outcomes after ICSI. Methods A retrospective comparative study was conducted on patients who underwent ICSI treatment with testicular spermatozoa in our Reproductive Medicine Unit from June 2014 to June 2018. The 132 cycles were divided into two groups according to whether laser-assisted selection of spermatozoa was used. Results Compared with control group, no significant differences were found in the pregnancy, implantation, miscarriage and live birth rates in the laser group in either fresh or frozen transfer cycles. The cumulative live birth rate in the laser group was 69.70%, which was slightly higher than in the control group (60.61%), but this was not statistically different. There were no differences in the average gestational age, premature birth rate, neonatal birth weight and the malformation rate between the laser and control groups (P > 0.05). In addition, the obstetric outcome between the two groups were not different (P > 0.05). Conclusions No negative effect on perinatal and neonatal outcomes was seen by using laser-assisted selection of immotile spermatozoa for TESA-ICSI. This study endorses the use of laser-assisted selection of viable spermatozoa for ICSI cycles.