Evaluation of laboratory and clinical results of embryos obtained after ICSI procedure with frozen/thawed testicular sperm

The prevalence of male infertility worldwide is increasing every year. In this direction, despite advances in both the diagnostic and therapeutic management of male infertility, research on this subject continues. This study aims to compare the embryo quality and clinical performance results after the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) performed by frozen-thawed ejaculate sperm (control group) or by frozen-thawed testicular sperm in patients who underwent the micro-TESE (m-TESE) procedure with the diagnosis of azoospermia. In the study, fertilization/blastocyst rates after the ICSI procedure and demographic characteristics of patients who underwent the micro-TESE procedure due to azoospermia diagnosis (group AZO-TESE) and individuals who used ejaculate sperm as a control group (Group EJ) in Bahçeci Umut IVF Center (sample and data collection between 01.01.2016 and 31.12.2019) were examined retrospectively. The fertilization rate after the ICSI procedure with frozen-thawed ejaculate sperm was statistically significantly higher than the ICSI after m-TESE. Fertilized oocyte rate was 80% for Group EJ and 60% for Group AZO-TESE. Despite a lower fertilization rate, fertilization success in the azoospermic patient group was consistent with the literature. There was no statistically significant difference when the blastocyst rates were compared between the two groups. While the blastocyst rate was 46% in Group EJ, it was 40% in Group AZO-TESE. This revealed that blastocyst formation rates were almost the same after fertilization with frozen-thawed sperm obtained from ejaculate or patients with azoospermia who underwent the micro-TESE (m-TESE) procedure.