Azoospermia is defined as the absence of spermatozoa in the pellet of a centrifuged semen sample. In fact, when a basic semen analysis fails to detect sperm in the ejaculate, there is still the possibility of detecting rare sperm after centrifugation of the sample and examination of the pellet. In this study, we assessed the role of Cytospin centrifugation in combination with the nuclear fast picroindigocarmine (NF-PIC) staining in identifying sperm in azoospermic samples.
Semen samples of 251 men diagnosed as having azoospermia after standard examination were further analyzed by Cytospin centrifugation in combination with NF-PIC staining.
Sperm were detected in 60 men (23.9%), thus changing their diagnosis to cryptozoospermia.
By identifying sperm in the semen of men who were thought to have total azoospermia, the Cytospin NF-PIC test can alter the diagnosis and further treatment of these men.
The world journal of men's health. 2022 Jan 19 [Epub ahead of print]
Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Sajal Gupta, Ashok Agarwal, Renata Finelli, Shinnosuke Kuroda, Ramadan Saleh, Florence Boitrelle, Parviz Kavoussi, Murat Gül, Nicholas Tadros, Edmund Ko, Ala'a Farkouh, Ralf Henkel, Mohamed Arafa, Amarnath Rambhatla, Rupin Shah
American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA., American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA. ., Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt., Reproductive Biology, Fertility Preservation, Andrology, CECOS, Poissy Hospital, Poissy, France., Austin Fertility and Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF, Department of Urology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA., Department of Urology, Selcuk University School of Medicine, Konya, Turkey., Division of Urology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL, USA., Department of Urology, Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA., Department of Urology, Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA., Division of Andrology, Department of Urology, Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India.