Leukospermia is the presence of a high number of white blood cells in a semen sample. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2010, there must be more than 1 million leukocytes per millilitre of semen for a diagnosis of leukospermia to be made. For this, a semen analysis should be carried out in a specialised centre.
The presence of leukocytes in the sample is indicative of an infection or inflammation of the urinary tract or seminal tract and can lead to a decrease in the quality of the semen sample because the leukocytes expel reactive oxygen species in an attempt to eliminate the pathogens that are causing the infection.
To diagnose what type of pathogen is causing the infection, a semen sample and a urine sample from the patient should be sent to the microbiology laboratory for analysis, where a culture of both will be performed. In this way it can be determined which microorganism it is and which antibiotic is indicated to fight the infection.
Once the micro-organism has been identified, the patient will be prescribed the indicated antibiotic. Some time after completing the treatment, the semen analysis can be repeated to assess whether the number of leukocytes in the sample has decreased. Therefore, leukospermia is a reversible alteration that does not necessarily cause permanent sterility.
