Clinical and neonatal outcomes of using a modified micro cryotube for cryopreservation of small numbers of spermatozoa for TESA-ICSI cycles

Abstract

Cryopreservation of a small number of human spermatozoa is still a major challenge for embryologists. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using a modified micro cryotube as freezing carrier for freezing small numbers of human spermatozoa collected by testicular sperm aspiration (TESA). We conducted a retrospective study to analyses the ICSI outcomes of using frozen-thawed few testicular spermatozoa in males with obstructive azoospermia (OA) from June 2017 to June 2021. Of 155 ICSI treatment cycles, 79 cycles were allocated to frozen sperm group and a modified micro cryotube was used for freezing testicular sperm, 76 cycles were allocated as fresh sperm group. No significant differences were observed in fertilization rate, good quality embryo rate, and blastocyst rate between the frozen sperm group and fresh sperm group (P > 0.05). Similarly, in the fresh embryo transfer cycles plus the first frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles, the total clinical pregnancy rate (54.43% vs 57.89%), implantation rate (46.08% vs 49.47%), miscarriage rate (13.95% vs 13.64%) and live birth rate (45.57% vs 48.68%) were not statistically different between the frozen and fresh sperm groups (P > 0.05). In addition, there was no statistical differences in the mean gestational age (38.33weeks ± 1.74 vs 37.89weeks ± 1.87), preterm delivery rate (5.56% vs 10.81%), mean birth weight at delivery (3026.50 g ± 577.64 vs 2977.56 g ± 528.93), and low birth weight (12.50% vs 19.51%) between the two groups (P > 0.05 in all cases). Modified micro cryotube for cryopreservation of rare testicula rretrieved spermatozoa did not negatively affect the pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in TESA-ICSI cycles. The presented method may be a useful alternative for cryopreservation of small numbers of human spermatozoa in clinical setting.

Keywords: Birth weight; Intracytoplasmic sperm injection; Micro cryotube; Pregnancy outcomes; Sperm cryopreservation.