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Case Reports
. 2020 Mar 7;3(3):90-92.
doi: 10.1002/iju5.12149. eCollection 2020 May.

A Japanese man with spina bifida who successfully fathered a child following fertility treatment

Daisuke Gotoh  1 , Katsuya Aoki  1 , Yosuke Morizawa  1 , Shunta Hori  1 , Yoshitaka Itami  1   2 , Makito Miyake  1 , Kazumasa Torimoto  1 , Hitoshi Momose  2 , Kiyohide Fujimoto  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Japanese man with spina bifida who successfully fathered a child following fertility treatment

Daisuke Gotoh et al. IJU Case Rep. .

Abstract

Introduction: Spina bifida is a congenital anomaly caused by a neural tube closure defect that may result in sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction and infertility are prevalent in spina bifida patients but have been scarcely reported.

Case presentation: We report the case of a 36-year-old man with spina bifida and mild-moderate erectile dysfunction. He could experience erection and ejaculation. He got married at the age of 28 years, but his wife was unable to conceive for 2 years thereafter. Semen analyses revealed that semen volume, sperm density, and sperm motility rate were below normal levels. It was concluded that natural conception would be difficult, and assisted reproductive strategies were planned. After 4 years, his wife conceived through intracytoplasmic sperm injection and gave birth to a healthy baby.

Conclusion: Fertility treatment, including intracytoplasmic sperm injection, is a useful therapeutic method for male patients with spina bifida who desire to father a child.

Keywords: assisted reproductive technology; conception; fertility treatment; intracytoplasmic sperm injection; spina bifida.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sperm findings. After sperm are retrieved using a microscope, high quality sperm are isolated. WHO laboratory manual for the examination of human semen 5th edn.4
Figure 2
Figure 2
Course of infertility treatment. IVF and ICSI are implemented to increase the number of motile sperm.12
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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