Fertility and Sterility
Volume 90, Issue 5 , Pages 1800-1804, November 2008

Significant decrease in sperm deoxyribonucleic acid fragmentation after varicocelectomy

  • Philip Werthman, M.D., FACS

      Affiliations

    • Center for Male Reproductive Medicine, Los Angeles, California
    • ,
  • Regina Wixon, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • SCSA Diagnostics, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota
    • ,
  • Kay Kasperson, B.S.

      Affiliations

    • SCSA Diagnostics, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota
    • ,
  • Donald P. Evenson, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Donald P. Evenson, Ph.D., SCSA Diagnostics, 807 32nd Ave., Brookings, SD 57006 (FAX: 605-692-9730).

Received 5 May 2006; received in revised form 21 August 2006; accepted 11 September 2006. published online 11 June 2007.

Objective

To measure sperm DNA integrity values before and after varicocelectomy in patients with elevated preoperative levels of sperm DNA fragmentation.

Design

Retrospective.

Setting

Private urology clinic.

Patient(s)

Eleven patients with grade 1, 2, or 3 varicocele.

Intervention(s)

Varicocelectomy.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Sperm DNA fragmentation values were assessed before and after varicocelectomy.

Results(s)

Ninety percent of the patients showed a significant decrease in sperm DNA fragmentation levels.

Conclusions(s)

Although this study was small, 10 of the 11 patients with varicocele showed a significant decrease in sperm DNA fragmentation after varicocele repair. Elevated sperm DNA fragmentation has been shown to have a significant negative effect on pregnancy outcome with use of in vivo, IUI, routine IVF, and to a lesser extent intracytoplasmic sperm injection fertilization; therefore pregnancy outcome may improve after varicocelectomy.

Key Words: Varicocele, SCSA, male infertility, sperm DNA fragmentation, DFI

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PII: S0015-0282(07)00831-X

doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2006.09.019

Fertility and Sterility
Volume 90, Issue 5 , Pages 1800-1804, November 2008

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