Oligoasthenozoospermia is one of the causes of male infertility in which two seminal parameters are affected: the concentration and motility of sperm.
Oligoasthenozoospermia is marked by a concentration below 15 million per ml and for having more than 60% of sperm with altered motility.
For this reason, oligoasthenozoospermia would be a combination of the oligozoospermia and asthenozoospermia disorders, which worsens a men's sterility problem.
Achieving a natural pregnancy by men with oligoasthenozoospermia is difficult, although not impossible. If pregnancy was not achieved, couples affected by this pathology should resort to in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques in order to become parents.
Basically, patients have the following two treatment options:
- Intra-uterine insemination (IUI)
- would only be indicated in cases of discreet oligoasthenozoospermia, as a minimum seminal quality is still required to ensure success. The total motile sperm count (TMS) after capacitation should be of at least 3 million. Also, for this technique to have real pregnancy chances, the woman must also meet some requirements concerning age and tubal patency, among other things.
- IVF-ICSI
- is usually the indicated technique for patients with moderate or severe oligoasthenospermia. It consists of microinjecting the selected sperm under the microscope into the eggs extracted by ovum-pick up.
By means of in vitro fertilization, we overcome the barriers that may exist either in the male or female reproductive tracts to achieve pregnancy.
Furthermore, ICSI even allows the eggs to be fertilized with completely immotile sperm; the only requirement being for sperm to be alive.
