Sperm tail flexibility test: a simple test for selecting viable spermatozoa for intracytoplasmic sperm injection from semen samples without motile spermatozoa

Soares, Jonathas Borges; Glina, Sidney; Antunes, Nelson; Wonchockier, Roberta; Galuppo, Andrea Giannotti; Mizrahi, Françoise Elia

doi:10.1590/s0041-87812003000500003

Cited by 35 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…Cryopreserved specimens are thawed and processed using the principles already described (30). Methods for selecting viable sperm for ICSI are currently available in cases immotile spermatozoa only are obtained after processing (27,31).…”

Section: Laboratory Processing Of Surgi-cally-retrieved Spermmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm retrieval techniques for assisted reproduction

Esteves¹,

Miyaoka²,

Agarwal³

2011

Int. braz j urol.

103

102

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Different surgical methods such as PESA, MESA, TESA, TESE and micro-TESE have been developed to retrieve spermatozoa from either the epididymis or the testis according to the type of azoospermia, i.e., obstructive or non-obstructive. Laboratory techniques are used to remove contaminants, cellular debris, and red blood cells following collection of the epididymal fluid or testicular tissue. Surgically-retrieved spermatozoa may be used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and/or cryopreservation. In this article, we review the surgical procedures for retrieving spermatozoa from both the epididymis and the testicle and provide technical details of the commonly used methods. A critical analysis of the advantages and limitations of the current surgical methods to retrieve sperm from males with obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia is presented along with an overview of the laboratory techniques routinely used to process surgically-retrieved sperm. Lastly, we summarize the results from the current literature of sperm retrieval, as well as the clinical outcome of ICSI in the clinical scenario of obstructive and nonobstructive azoospermia.

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“…Sperm tail flexibility is considered a marker of sperm viability. [3031] If the tail remains rigid upon touching and sperm head and tail move together as a block, spermatozoon is then considered non-viable for ICSI.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory handling of epididymal and testicular spermatozoa: What can be done to improve sperm injections outcome

Esteves

Varghese²

2012

J Hum Reprod Sci

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Spermatozoa from azoospermic males can be retrieved from either the epididymis or the testis, depending on the type of azoospermia, using different surgical methods such as percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA), testicular sperm aspiration (TESA), testicular sperm extraction (TESE), and microsurgical testicular sperm extraction (micro- TESE). After collecting the epididymal fluid or testicular tissue, laboratory techniques are used to remove contaminants, cellular debris, noxious microorganisms, and red blood cells. Processed spermatozoa may be used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection or eventually be cryopreserved. However, spermatozoa collected from either the epididymis or the testis are often compromised and more fragile than ejaculated ones. Therefore, sperm processing techniques should be used with great caution to avoid jeopardizing the sperm fertilizing potential in treatment cycles. In this review, we describe the current methods for processing surgically-retrieved specimens, either fresh or frozen- thawed, and provide the tips and pitfalls for facilitating the handling of such specimens. In addition, we present the available laboratory tools to aid in the identification of viable immotile spermatozoa to be used in conjunction with assisted reproductive techniques. Review of the literature was carried out using PubMed and Science Direct search engines.

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“…Immotile testicular spermatozoa when gently agitated with an ICSI needle show a flexible tail as sign of vitality (Soares et al, 2003;de Oliveira et al, 2004). ICSI with these spermatozoa resulted in equal fertilisaton (FR) and pregnancy rates (PR) in comparison to motile testicular spermatozoa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing TESE-ICSI by laser-assisted selection of immotile spermatozoa and polarization microscopy for selection of oocytes

Nordhoff

Schüring²,

Krallmann

et al. 2012

Andrology

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SUMMARYFor most azoospermic men testicular sperm extraction (TESE) is the only treatment, however it presents challenges for the ART laboratory, as the retrieval of motile spermatozoa is difficult. In the absence of sperm movement no unequivocal distinction can be made between either dead or immotile, but vital spermatozoa. However, a single laser shot directed to the tip of the tail allows recognition of viability because the flagellum coils at the area of impact. To rank the quality and the maturity of oocytes, polarization microscopy can be used. The zona score and the visualization of the meiotic spindle correlate with implantation and pregnancy rates. We compared 65 TESE-ICSI cycles of the years 2007 and 2008 (Group 1, G1) with 58 TESE-ICSI cycles of the years 2009 and 2010 (Group 2, G2). Testicular spermatozoa were injected according to motility and morphology into selected oocytes. In G1 both, oocyte and spermatozoa were rated using light microscopy only, whereas in G2 the laser was used for sperm selection and the oocytes were rated by light and polarization microscopy. In G2 we enhanced our fertilization rate (FR) significantly in comparison to G1 (G1 42.1% vs. G2 52.7%, p < 0.001). The fertilization rate with immotile, but vital spermatozoa improved significantly when applying laser-based selection (p = 0.006). The laser selection of immotile spermatozoa and the use of polarization microscopy can enhance the FR of TESE-ICSI. No negative effect of the laser was seen on birth rates. The FR with immotile, but vital spermatozoa clearly benefits from laser selection and is a non-hazardous and safe method for the selection of viable but immotile sperm. To our knowledge this is the first report using new technology creating novel endpoints for the analysis of spermatozoa and oocytes in TESE-ICSI.

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“…Based on vitality estimation, spermatozoa are randomly chosen for injection. This approach leads to variable fertilisation rates (Papadimas et al ., ; von Zumbusch et al ., ; Ceccaldi et al ., ), (iii) the hypo‐osmotic swelling test (HOST) is a nondamaging technique based on intact sperm membrane semipermeability, which causes sperm swelling under hypo‐osmotic conditions, when an influx of water results in cell volume expansion (Liu et al ., ; Cayan et al ., ; Peeraer et al ., ), (iv) the use of a laser was also proposed to select viable spermatozoa (Gerber et al ., ; Nordhoff et al ., ), (v) sperm tail flexibility test (STFT) that consists in the selection and injection of spermatozoa showing flexible tails when touched with the ICSI pipette was also used to manage akitenospermia cases (Soares et al ., ; Oliveira et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Normal live birth after vitrified/warmed oocytes intracytoplasmic sperm injection with immotile spermatozoa in a patient with Kartagener's syndrome

et al. 2014

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The present article is a report on two cases of male Kartagener's syndrome enrolled in intraconjugal IVF programme due to akinetospermia. Viable spermatozoa were selected using a hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST) and pentoxifylline activation and subsequently microinjected into vitrified/warmed oocytes. The treatment enabled one of these two couples to achieve a pregnancy and to give birth to a healthy baby girl.

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“…During ICSI, the proper selection of immotile viable spermatozoa and setting them apart from immotile nonviable spermatozoa poses a challenge to embryologists. Some techniques have been developed to resolve the dilemma, including the hypo‐osmotic swelling test (HOST; Stanger, Vo, Yovich, & Almahbobi, ; Tubman, Check, Bollendorf, & Wilson, ), sperm tail flexibility test (STFT; Nordhoff, ; Soares et al., ) laser‐assisted immotile sperm selection (LAISS; Gerber, Kruse, Hirchenhain, Krussel, & Neumann, ), birefringence‐polarisation microscopy (Collodel, Federico, Pascarelli, Geminiani, & Moretti, ; Ghosh et al., ), and chemical stimulation (Ebner et al., ; Terriou et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The clinical and neonatal outcomes after stimulation of immotile spermatozoa using SperMagic medium

Zhou

Zhang

et al. 2018

Andrologia

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To evaluate the efficiency and safety of SperMagic medium on stimulating the immotile spermatozoa in testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and absolute asthenozoospermia, 96 patients with TESE and 106 patients with absolute asthenozoospermia were enrolled in this study. The motile spermatozoa were detected in 47 TESE patients and 68 absolute asthenozoospermia and these patients were assigned to control group. The immotile spermatozoa in 49 TESE patients and 34 absolute asthenozoospermia were stimulated with SperMagic medium. Patients were treated by standard intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). There were no significant differences in fertilisation, cleavage, implantation, pregnancy, live birth and neonatal outcomes. SperMagic medium does not increase incidence of adverse neonatal outcomes and is a reliable tool for selection of viable spermatozoa in ICSI.

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Sperm tail flexibility test: a simple test for selecting viable spermatozoa for intracytoplasmic sperm injection from semen samples without motile spermatozoa

Abstract: The sperm tail flexibility test (STFT) is an easy and cost-effective way for selecting viable immotile spermatozoa and can be used as an alternative method for determining the viability of spermatozoa. This test seems to be a simple and risk-free method when compared to the swelling test.

Cited by 35 publications

References 13 publications

Sperm retrieval techniques for assisted reproduction

Laboratory handling of epididymal and testicular spermatozoa: What can be done to improve sperm injections outcome

Optimizing TESE-ICSI by laser-assisted selection of immotile spermatozoa and polarization microscopy for selection of oocytes

Normal live birth after vitrified/warmed oocytes intracytoplasmic sperm injection with immotile spermatozoa in a patient with Kartagener's syndrome

The clinical and neonatal outcomes after stimulation of immotile spermatozoa using SperMagic medium

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