Pregnancy after percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration in an 81-year-old man with obstructive azoospermia

Abstract

There has been observed a trend to delay childbearing, reflecting couple's desire to have children at older ages. Maternal age is a well-known factor that influences the achievement of a pregnancy. In contrast, there are few studies examining the effect of paternal age on the outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and results are conflicting. Our patient was vasectomised at the age of 60 years, and his wife was 38 years old. A total of four metaphase II oocytes were inseminated 4 h later (day 0) by intracytoplasmic sperm injection using spermatozoa from percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration. On day 2, the three resulting embryos were transferred (two had four cells, and one had two cells). Two healthy infants were born at the 37th gestational week by caesarean section. Although the effect of paternal age on ART outcomes and results are conflicting, this case report contributes to point out that advanced age of the man has probably lesser negative influence in the reproductive function.

A single-center study examining the outcomes of percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration in the treatment of obstructive azoospermia

“…Case reports, such as that of a successful pregnancy derived from PESA in an 81-year-old male with OA, serve as modern benchmarks. [19] A recent 2013 study by Esteves and colleagues[18] provides insight by examining PESA and TESA outcomes in the current technology era. The authors examined success and stratified outcomes via the etiology of obstruction.…”

Treating male infertility

“…Obstructive azoospermia may be congenital or acquired (from vasectomy). In these cases, spermatozoa can be retrieved in 25-65% and pregnancy rates of 20-50% at different centres with in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) (nijs et al, 2011;Taitson et al, 2012). Most causes of male infertility are treatable, and the goal of many treatments is to restore the ability to conceive naturally.…”

Incidence and anatomy of cardiac malformations in children conceived by assisted reproduction techniques - A review

“…In fact, male and female lifetime strategies are as different as their mate selection criteria and the resulting cognitive differences. Azoospermia, the absence of spermatozoa in ejaculated semen, affects approximately 5% of all men and accounts for one-third of all male factor infertility cases (Nijs et al, 2011;Taitson et al, 2012). Since the birth of the first infant conceived in the U.S. with assisted reproductive technology (ART) in 1981, the use of advanced technologies to overcome the problem of infertility has increased steadily.…”