Testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) outcome in Middle Eastern patients with non-obstructive azoospermia: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Infertility is an important health problem, affecting couples worldwide. Non-obstructive azoospermia is the most severe form of azoospermia, which is mostly idiopathic or caused by different causes such as chemotherapy and genetic disorders. Testicular fine needle aspiration (or testicular sperm aspiration (TESA)) is simple, cost-effective and less invasive than testicular sperm extraction. Three hundred twenty Middle Eastern patients with NOA were recruited in this study. The patients underwent routine infertility assessment including medical, surgical, and reproductive history, physical examination, semen analysis, and hormonal profile including FSH, Testosterone, and inhibin B in addition to Genetic assessment including karyotype and Y-chromosome micro-deletion. Testicular sperm aspiration was positive in 70 patients (22.18%). Serum FSH levels were clearly elevated in the patients with negative sperm retrieval (mean = 21.39 U/L), while they were reduced in the patients with positive sperm retrieval (mean = 14.61 U/L). Testosterone value did not clearly correlate with the results of testicular sperm aspiration in the two groups of patients, and testicular volume was normal for most of the patients in the two groups. Patients with Y-chromosome micro-deletion were 11.22% of the total patients studied and they had negative TESA results, while 13.12% of patients had Klinefelter Syndrome and their TESA results were negative. We confirmed that there are many factors that negatively affect Testicular sperm aspiration results: high FSH and low inhibin B levels, smoking, and genetic disorders. Despite the absence of sperm in the semen, some NOA patients have a chance to have children by using this technique.