Journal List > Korean J Androl > v.29(2) > 1033073

Park, Jo, Lee, and Seo: Causes of Obstructive Azoospermia and Outcome of Microsurgical Reconstruction

Abstract

Purpose

To define the causes of obstructive azoospermia (OA) and evaluate the possibility and efficacy of microsurgical correction.

Materials and Methods

Sixty-seven patients diagnosed as OA with normal spermatogenesis preoperatively and initially planned to microsurgical vasoepididymostomy from December 2003 and November 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. Causes of OA were analyzed and patency rate and pregnancy outcomes of their female partners were measured.

Results

Thirty-one patients (46.3%) could not correct their OA because of obstruction of the distal vas deferens, epididymal atrophy and/or hypotrophy and vasal injury due to previous surgery. Among the 36 patients undergone microsurgical vasoepididymostomy (mean age of patients and their female partners were 32.9 and 31.3 years, respectively), 32 patients (88.9%) were corrected bilaterally and 4 patients (11.1%) unilaterally. The overall patency rate was 17 patients (47.2%); being 15 and 2 patients for bilateral and unilateral procedure, respectively. Among the 17 patients regained the patency after surgery, except 3 cases without followed up, 6 cases achieved natural pregnancy and also 6 cases achieved the pregnancy using the assisted reproduction.

Conclusions

According to the affected point of reproductive tract, not all men with obstructive azoospermia were candidates for microsurgical reconstruction. However, reasonable outcomes were achieved in the microsurgical reconstruction cases and it should be primary therapeutic method in obstructive azoospermia. For those in whom reconstruction is not a viable option, surgical methods for sperm retrieval are available to have their own biological children.

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Table 1.
Causes of surgicallyuncorrectable obstructive azoo spermia
Causes Numbers (%)
Concomitant bilateral obstruction of the distal and proximal vas deferens 23 (74.2)
Bilateral atrophy and/or hypotrophy of the epididymis 5 (16.1)
Combine with distal vasal obstruction and epididymal hypotrophy 2 (6.5)
Vasal injury due to previous surgery 1 (3.2)
Total 31 (100)

Values were given as number of patients (%).

Table 2.
Patency and paternity outcomes of surgically correctable obstructive azoospermia
Outcome Data (%)
Patency rate
 Overall 17/36 (47.2)
 Unilateral 2/4 (50)
 Bilateral 15/32 (46.9)
Paternity rate
 Overall 12/14 (85.7)
 Natural pregnancy 6/14 (42.9)
 IVF/ICSI∗ 6/14 (42.9)

Values were given as number of patients (%).

∗IVF and ICSI denote in-vitro fertilizationand intracytoplasmic sperm injection, respectively

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