Background: The role of male factor with respect to sperm morphology, progressive motility, and density is studied under in vitro conditions.
Methods: The semen samples of 67 males participating in an in vitro fertilization program were evaluated by the conventional WHO criteria of spermatogram, by morphology evaluation using strict criteria (MEUSC), and by the hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST). All sperm tests were performed in the original semen sample as delivered on the day of IVF, before further sperm treatment. The correlations between these parameters and the fertilization outcome were evaluated and their predictive values were calculated.
Results: When the patients were divided into two groups, namely, fertile (fertilization rate per oocyte greater than 0%) and infertile (fertilization rate per oocyte = 0%), only mean sperm density and morphology were significantly different between the groups (P less than 0.05). The correlation with fertilization rate in vitro was in favor of MEUSC.
Conclusions: Our results show that the HOST is inferior to MEUSC and conventional WHO sperm analysis in predicting fertilization in vitro.